With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

PRAGUE — President Obama came to this medieval city last spring to lay out an audacious vision of “a world without nuclear weapons.” A year later, he will arrive back here on Thursday to sign a treaty with Russia that envisions a world with thousands of nuclear weapons.

Under the so-called New Start treaty, the two powers will pare their arsenals but still deploy 1,550 warheads each, on top of thousands of others not covered by the pact. All of which raises this question: Nearly two decades after the end of the cold war, with terrorists, rather than Soviet despots, the main threat, why does the world still need so many weapons?

By PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/europe/08arms.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

With Arms Pact, Disarmament Challenge Remains

by PETER BAKER

Published: April 7, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/world/europe/08arms.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

PRAGUE — President Obama came to this medieval city last spring to lay out an audacious vision of “a world without nuclear weapons.” A year later, he arrives back here on Thursday to sign a treaty with Russia that envisions a world with thousands of nuclear weapons.

Under the so-called New Start treaty, the two powers will pare their arsenals but still deploy 1,550 warheads each, on top of thousands of others not covered by the pact. All of which raises this question: Nearly two decades after the end of the cold war, with terrorists, rather than Soviet despots, the main threat, why does the world still need so many weapons?

Administration’s Remarks on the Arms Control Treaty

Published: March 26, 2010

Following is a transcript of the remarks made on Friday by President Obama; Hillary Rodham Clinton, the secretary of state; Robert Gates, the defense secretary; and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; in which details of a new arms control treaty with Russia were announced, as released by the White House:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/europe/27start-text.html?ref=europe

Twists and Turns on Way to Arms Pact With Russia

NYTimes

By PETER BAKER

Published: March 26, 2010

President Obama was angry. He was on the phone with PresidentDmitri A. Medvedev last month to finalize a new arms control treaty with Russia, only to be confronted with new demands for concessions on missile defense. A deal that was supposed to be done was unraveling.

“Dmitri, we agreed,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Medvedev with a tone of exasperation, according to advisers. “We can’t do this. If it means we’re going to walk away from this treaty and not get it done, so be it. But we’re not going to go down this path.”

Mr. Obama hung up and vented frustration. Some of his advisers had never seen him so mad. A picture taken by a White House photographer captured his grim face in that moment of uncertainty. For a year he had been trying to forge a new relationship with Russia, starting with a treaty to slash nuclear arsenals. And for a year Russia had been testing him, suspecting he was weak and certain it could roll over him.

If Mr. Obama overestimated his powers of persuasion in reaching quick agreement with the Russians, they misjudged how far they could get him to bend. In the end, they compromised on nonbinding language. And so, after all the fits and starts, all the miscalculations, the vodka toasts that proved premature and the stare-downs that nearly sank the whole enterprise, Mr. Obama hung up the phone again with Mr. Medvedev on Friday, this time having finally translated aspiration into agreement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/27/world/europe/27start.html?scp=1&sq=President%20Dmitri%20A.%20Medvedev&st=cse

Report slip hits nuclear hopes

DANIEL FLITTON

March 25, 2010

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IN A blow to Australia's credibility in global nuclear debates, the Rudd government has ignored a key finding from its own inquiry into disarmament, one that called for limits on the use of atomic weapons in war.

A joint working paper drawn up by Australia and Japan before a major review of global nuclear controls was released yesterday in which the two countries argue for a reduced role for atomic weapons in national security strategies.

But a telling omission from the paper was any call for nuclear weapons to be dedicated to the ''sole purpose'' of deterring nuclear attack - the key recommendation of a report commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and co-sponsored by Australia and Japan.

It is believed the phrase was left out to avoid embarrassing the US - ally to both Australia and Japan - while the administration of President Barack Obama grapples with a review of America's nuclear policy.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/report-slip-hits-nuclear-hopes-20100324-qwr9.html

NEWS ANALYSIS Treaty Advances Obama’s Nuclear Vision

By PETER BAKER

Published: March 25, 2010

WASHINGTON — The arms control treaty being completed by the United States and Russia represents another step toward closing the books on the defining struggle of the final half of the 20th century. But it also marks the opening of a broader campaign to counter the emerging threats of the 21st century.

The treaty that the two sides hope to finalize as early as Friday will require hundreds of nuclear weapons to be shelved or destroyed, still just a fraction of the formidable arsenals maintained by the former cold war adversaries. But perhaps more important than the numbers is the tangible evidence of a new partnership with Russia and momentum toward a revamped nuclear security regime.

If President Obama signs the treaty with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia in Prague on April 8 as expected, it will give Mr. Obama a stronger hand heading into two back-to-back nuclear summit meetings where he wants to push toward the nuclear weapons-free world he envisions. At the two meetings, Mr. Obama hopes to forge international consensus to limit the spread of weapons and secure materials that could be vulnerable to terrorists, efforts that could be accelerated by the new treaty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/world/europe/26start.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Russia and U.S. Report Breakthrough on Arms

WASHINGTON — The United States and Russiahave broken a logjam in arms control negotiations and expect to sign a treaty next month to slash their nuclear arsenals to the lowest levels in half a century, officials in both nations said Wednesday.

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Todd Heisler/The New York Times

President Obama meeting last year in London with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia. They have negotiated arms cuts.

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• Times Topic: Arms Control and Limitation and Disarmament

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After months of deadlock and delay, the two sides have agreed to lower the limit on deployed strategic warheads by more than one-quarter and launchers by half, the officials said. The treaty will impose a new inspection regime to replace one that lapsed in December, but will not restrict American plans for missile defense based in Europe.

President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia plan to talk Friday to complete the agreement, but officials said they were optimistic that the deal was nearly done. The two sides have begun preparing for a signing ceremony in Prague on April 8, timing it to mark the anniversary of Mr. Obama’s speech in the Czech capital outlining his vision for eventually ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

The new treaty represents perhaps the most concrete foreign policy achievement for Mr. Obama since he took office 14 months ago and the most significant result of his effort to “reset” the troubled relationship with Russia. The administration wants to use it to build momentum for an international nuclear summit meeting in Washington just days after the signing ceremony and a more ambitious round of arms cuts later in his term.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25start.html?ref=global-home