This week, David Welch welcomes Kingston Reif, Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation, The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, to Inside the Issues for a discussion of the importance of nuclear abolition. While progress has been made towards the global reduction of nuclear weapons, from around 75,000 at the peak of the Cold War to approximately 19,000 today, there is still much work to be done. The threat of nuclear terrorism and continued proliferation remain critical concerns, along with the prominence of nuclear weapons in national security policies. Reif suggests that, as the countries with the largest nuclear armaments, the U.S. and Russia need to take the lead in weapons reductions as a first step in encouraging new nuclear weapons states, like Pakistan and North Korea, to move away from proliferation efforts. The conversation closes with a review of the governance challenges involved and the important role of inter-governmental organizations like the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Conference on Disarmament (CD) in nuclear abolition.