Carnegie Moscow Center
Despite the lack of sensations, the NPT Review Conference concluded on a successful note because it managed to avoid what a number of experts had feared – namely a deep-reaching crisis in, or even the collapse of the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
While tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula and forecasting the North Korean leadership’s next steps is difficult, none of the parties involved have any interest in further escalation.
The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review reflects modern reality and gives momentum to President Obama's long-term goal of living in a world without nuclear weapons.
President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons will require step-by-step progress on disarmament by nuclear-armed states, reciprocated by step-by-step progress toward strengthening the nonproliferation regime by non-nuclear-weapon states.
When President Medvedev and President Obama sign the new START agreement in Prague on April 8, they should emphasize their common interest in nuclear disarmament and make the ratification process another step in the positive resetting of relations.
More than ever, preventing nuclear weapons proliferation requires cooperation among the United States, Russia, and China, plus emerging powers. To achieve this cooperation, measures must be crafted to uphold the bargain between disarmament and nonproliferation.
While the U.S. policy on Afghanistan has been accused of inconsistency, recent events suggest a comprehensive policy is taking shape, one that takes into account transformations in the threats the country faces.
The terrorist attack in Pune shows there is still opposition in India to normalizing relations with Pakistan. Since the international community supports normalization, however, this opposition stands little chance of success.
Clearly it is in Russia's interest, while maintaining its strong positions in India, to search for a way to move beyond the traditional spheres of cooperation, in order not only to maintain the strategic nature of their bilateral relations in the long run, but, using these relations, to enhance the innovative character of its own economy.
Despite the complexities involved, the new START treaty should be signed by spring 2010. The main stumbling block is that the United States prioritizes a regime of transparency, whereas Russia demands a reduction of strategic weapons.