New START’s Inflated Promises
Nick Naroditski /
As the upcoming mid-term elections loom, President Barak Obama is trying to convince the Senate to ratify the New START agreement. His Administration alleges that New START is not only critical in itself, but that it is a stepping stone for a global nuclear disarmament regime known as “getting to zero.”
The expected Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in November has the Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Duma worried about the future of New START.
High-ranking U.S. foreign policy officials have suggested that this treaty could provide the basis for future, more substantial agreements to stop nuclear proliferation altogether. Marcie Ries, Deputy Assistant for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance made a statement to the U.N. using New START as the basis both of further U.S.-Russian cooperation and an end to the deadlock over the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, which would stop all production of fissile materials. This idea of New START as the key effort for a nuclear-free world seems to have the support of some think tanks as well. (more…)