The G-8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (GP) is a vital international security and nonproliferation tool. It is the primary multilateral arrangement for financial commitments to implement and coordinate chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threat reduction activities on a global scale.

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, US Department of State coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs, analyzes the current and future role of the GP in this policy analysis brief. Because the current ten-year, $20 billion GP commitments expire in 2012, it is time to extend the GP so it can continue building upon its successful efforts to combat the spread of WMD, their delivery systems, and related technology. Canada has proposed extending the GP as a deliverable for its 2010 G-8 presidency, and the United States strongly supports that proposal.