Senate Not Likely To Ratify Nonproliferation Treaty, Says Expert 

Monday, November 16, 2009 at 1:10PM
Talk Radio News Service (Admin) in CTBT, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, Deepti Choubey, Frontpage 3, Meagan Wiseley, News/Commentary, Non Proliferation Treaty Conference, Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime, President Obama, START, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Follow-On

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Deepti Choubey, Deputy Director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Monday that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is not likely to be presented to the U.S. Senate for ratification before the Non Proliferation Treaty Conference which takes place in Austria next May.

“Certainly CTBT, I don’t see being ratified unless there is a massive reorientation in the administration’s political strategy about how to get it done...I think that’s one issue we can put to the side for this upcoming review conference,” Choubey said.

Adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1996, the CTBT bans all nuclear explosions on Earth, regardless of whether or not they are conducted for civilian or military purposes. Several UN members, including the U.S. signed the treaty, but as of this year, the U.S. Senate has yet to ratify it.

Choubey said she has high hopes for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Follow-On (START), calling it a “modest arms control measure.” In July of this year, both U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian Federation President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty, which aims to reduce and limit global strategic offensive arms to the range of 500-1100 by 2016.

However, Choubey warned that if the Senate does not ratify the CTBT by 2015 there will be a “negative impact” on the other members of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime.

Article originally appeared on Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media (http://www.talkradionews.com/).