Wednesday
Apr072010
New Arms Control Treaty Marks A Significant Shift For U.S., Russia
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 1:40PM
By Monique Cala Talk Media News/University of New Mexico
The nucelar arms control treaty set to be signed during a summit in Prague Thursday by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev represents a significant departure from past weapons treaties.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, seeks to limit the nuclear arsenal for each nation to 1,550 nuclear warheads, a move that amounts to a nearly 30 percent reduction in nuclear force.
According to Linton Brooks, a former chief U.S. negotiator for an older Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) under President George H.W. Bush, the new treaty also includes a framework to make sure that each country is counting their nuclear weapons properly in order to meet the 1,550 requirement.
“This treaty ... counts actual, physical warheads," said Brooks. "So it measures the real deployed capability.”
Brooks explained that past treaties failed to create this standard procedure and that the numbers reached by each nation tended to vary on each party's definition of what constituted a single warhead.
When Obama announced the treaty in late March, he cast the move as part of his administration's ultimate goal to move away from a cold war mindset.
"In many ways, nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time," Obama said. "We’ve taken another step forward."
The treaty will go to the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament by the end of April or early May for ratification.
The nucelar arms control treaty set to be signed during a summit in Prague Thursday by U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev represents a significant departure from past weapons treaties.
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, seeks to limit the nuclear arsenal for each nation to 1,550 nuclear warheads, a move that amounts to a nearly 30 percent reduction in nuclear force.
According to Linton Brooks, a former chief U.S. negotiator for an older Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) under President George H.W. Bush, the new treaty also includes a framework to make sure that each country is counting their nuclear weapons properly in order to meet the 1,550 requirement.
“This treaty ... counts actual, physical warheads," said Brooks. "So it measures the real deployed capability.”
Brooks explained that past treaties failed to create this standard procedure and that the numbers reached by each nation tended to vary on each party's definition of what constituted a single warhead.
When Obama announced the treaty in late March, he cast the move as part of his administration's ultimate goal to move away from a cold war mindset.
"In many ways, nuclear weapons represent both the darkest days of the Cold War, and the most troubling threats of our time," Obama said. "We’ve taken another step forward."
The treaty will go to the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament by the end of April or early May for ratification.
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