With great enthusiasm, President Obama joined Dmitri Medvedev in Prague yesterday to sign a new nuclear arms reduction agreement. This new agreement replaces the cold war era Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expired on December fifth of last year.
START implemented the largest arms control in history and barred both Russia and The United States from deploying more than 6,000 warheads. START II, as it is coming to be known, calls for both sides to reduce the number of warheads held to 1,550; 75% lower than START I which was implemented in 1991. According to the treaty, the reduction must be completed by the end of 2017.
The signing of the treaty brings a sigh of relief on both sides as negotiations regarding the placement of missiles were becoming heated. Reports that the Obama administration was in talks with Romania and Bulgaria to deploy U.S. missiles in each country as part of the “missile shield” project made for a nervous Russia. Now that those plans have been retracted, the two sides can move forward.
Russia does however reserve the right to withdraw from the agreement if it feels threatened at any time by placement of missiles. The previous administration had planned to put ten ground based interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic along with a fixed radar station. Those plans have also been retracted by the Obama administration.
Though this event is not receiving as much press as it probably should be, I believe that it is a great moment in our history. Marking the most important nuclear legislation in nearly 20 years, START II is a sign that both of the cold war adversaries want to lead the way in the reduction of nuclear weapons across the world. A summit will be held April 12-13 in which 47 heads of state will gather to discuss the vulnerability of nuclear materials and ensure they do not fall into the hands of terrorists. It is a great step to continue the assurance that our country, and the world, will be safe from nuclear weapons.
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