Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Follow Carnegie
- Search
- Global Resources
Global Centers
Languages
The most significant aspect of the new START treaty is its preservation of a legally binding framework for the U.S.-Russian strategic relationship.
The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review reflects modern reality and gives momentum to President Obama's long-term goal of living in a world without nuclear weapons.
President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons will require step-by-step progress on disarmament by nuclear-armed states, reciprocated by step-by-step progress toward strengthening the nonproliferation regime by non-nuclear-weapon states.
The consideration of nuclear abolition is highly speculative, but keeping the long-term goal in mind while addressing near-term security challenges can achieve more good than harm.
The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review gives much-needed momentum to the nuclear agenda President Obama set out in Prague last year.
The new START agreement that President Obama and President Medvedev will sign in Prague on April 8 provides concrete and tangible progress in bilateral relations and addresses the biggest existential threat the United States faces—Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
When President Medvedev and President Obama sign the new START agreement in Prague on April 8, they should emphasize their common interest in nuclear disarmament and make the ratification process another step in the positive resetting of relations.
The United States and India recently concluded arrangements for the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. This removes one of the final hurdles to fully implementing the 2008 U.S.-India nuclear deal, which exempted India from nuclear trade restrictions and has exacerbated nuclear tensions in South Asia.
High-level officials from nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states should consult one another directly on disarmament initiatives and to seek agreement on corresponding nonproliferation measures.
President Obama should assess whether any other leaders of major countries are seriously prepared to pursue a nuclear-weapon-free world. If some are, he should invite them to join him in detailing a ten-year action plan to minimize the dangers posed by fissile materials and maximize the potential of peaceful nuclear energy.