A congressionally-commissioned scientific study by an influential group of independent scientists released today concludes that the effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear arsenal can be maintained indefinitely through the existing program for stockpile stewardship and without nuclear test explosions or pursuit of new warhead designs.
Panelists: Wendy Batson, Steve Goose, Jeff Abramson
In November 2009, Arms Control Association board member John Steinbruner participated in a discussion of the de-alerting of the U.S. nuclear arsenal at CSIS.
The congressional review period for the U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ended Oct. 17 without action by Congress to block or add conditions to the pact. The expiration of the review period paves the way for the governments to exchange diplomatic notes to bring the agreement into force.
As the U.S. Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) moves toward completion in the coming months, the Obama administration is grappling with a major question about the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Given the stated need to maintain the arsenal for the foreseeable future, can the United States reliably maintain existing warhead designs, or will the country eventually need new ones?
Public statements by senior officials from the departments of Defense and State appear to be at odds on this point, and officials from other parts of the government apparently have weighed in as well.
The United States last month pledged its support for talks on a legally binding instrument to regulate the global trade of conventional arms, breaking with previous U.S. votes against the United Nations-led process. UN member states are now expected to approve a schedule that could see an arms trade treaty (ATT) negotiated in 2012.
One month away from START’s Dec. 5 expiration date, it is unclear that a replacement treaty will be ready for signature by that time, comments by administration officials and nongovernmental observers suggest.
On September 22, a day before President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in New York, 13 nongovernmental U.S. security experts released an open letter calling on the two leaders “to support a U.S. policy declaring that the only purpose of nuclear weapons is to deter, and if necessary respond to, the use of nuclear weapons by other countries.”
Arms control experts welcomed yesterday's statement by the United States supporting a legally binding treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons. The United States was the only country to vote against two previous UN resolutions related to the treaty, but yesterday the Obama administration expressed support for a UN process that could lead to negotiation of such a treaty in 2012.(Continue)
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In the midst of a global recession that reduced the global demand for weapons, the
Global problems require global solutions, along with effective leadership and cooperation. For years, as leading players have failed to agree on how to bolster the beleaguered nonproliferation system, the threats posed by nuclear weapons have become more complex and difficult to solve. (Continue)
On September 24th, Peter Crail discussed Russian and American efforts to reduce their nuclear arsenals.
Experts from the independent Arms Control Association (ACA) welcomed reports that the Barack Obama administration has decided to shelve the controversial George W. Bush administration proposal to install an untested, ground-based missile interceptor system in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter an as-yet undeveloped Iranian long-range missile threat. The Obama administration has signaled it will instead pursue alternative basing modes and concentrate on better-proven missile interceptor technologies. (Continue)
A Review of Reagan’s Secret War: The Untold Story of His Fight to Save the World From Nuclear Disaster by Martin Anderson and Annelise Anderson (Continue)