Editor's Note

Miles A. Pomper

When a new U.S. president takes office in January 2009, he will be confronted with a host of arms control and nonproliferation challenges.

At the top of his list should be finding a way to preserve the strategic reassurance provided by START I, which is set to expire in December 2009; chart a way to further U.S.-Russian strategic arms reductions beyond those already underway; and resolve differences with Moscow over a planned U.S. missile defense system in Europe. In our cover story this month, Alexei Arbatov and Rose Gottemoeller offer detailed proposals on how to accomplish those goals.

The next six months could help determine the choices that the next U.S. leader faces in addressing Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Vigorous diplomacy, forceful international pressure, and tough questioning by the International Atomic Energy Agency might help set the stage for a compromise between Iran and the international community. Otherwise, the world could be closer to facing an unpalatable choice: dealing with a nuclear-weapon-capable Iran or seeing either Israel or the United States attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Leonard S. Spector and Avner Cohen explain how Israel’s September 2007 attack on Syria’s alleged plutonium-production reactor provides important insight in this regard.

The president will also have to work hard to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack. Daniel H. Chivers, Bethany F. Lyles Goldblum, Brett H. Isselhardt, and Jonathan S. Snider lay out a formula for trying to reduce this danger by using nuclear forensics techniques and common nuclear security standards to minimize the danger that terrorists could acquire fissile material for nuclear weapons.

As the president tackles these difficult issues, he will have an invaluable tool: the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which celebrates its 40th birthday this month. In our “Looking Back” section this month, George Bunn, one of the drafters of the NPT, and John B. Rhinelander describe some of the historic developments that brought about the treaty and chart out a course for its future.

Our news section this month covers some historic milestones: the completion of a Cluster Munitions Convention and progress in eliminating North Korea’s nuclear program. It also includes articles probing the Bush administration’s claims of success for its Proliferation Security Initiative and its evolving long-range missile defense project.