Herbert Butterfield, despite having been one of the world’s foremost Christian Realists, was deeply conflicted on nuclear arms.

On July 6, 2017, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions issued a joint declaration calling upon the international community to “map out a credible, verifiable, and enforceable strategy for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.”

Not only is the United States morally justified to possess nuclear weapons and to credibly threaten their employment, it would be immoral and inimical to the principles of Christian just war theory for the U.S. government to adopt the disarmament agenda.