New START Treaty Enters into Force

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today: Monday February 7, 2011

U.S.-Russia Nuclear Arms Treaty Takes Effect - The Associated Press [link]

• A new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty went into effect Saturday, securing a key foreign policy goal of President Obama and raising hopes among officials on both sides that it will provide the impetus for Moscow and Washington to negotiate further reductions.
• "The treaty marks significant progress toward President Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said after exchanging ratification papers with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an international security conference in Munich.
• Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov suggested that the two countries could build upon the new treaty in other areas, saying that "coordinated efforts" were needed in missile defense, and that Moscow also was willing to talk about tactical nuclear weapon reductions.
• The treaty builds on the original START, or Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, initially proposed by then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, which went into effect in 1994. The conclusion of the New START treaty comes the day before the 100th anniversary of Reagan's birth.
• "The principles of equality, parity, equal and indivisible security ... form a solid basis for today's Russian-American interaction in a range of areas," Lavrov said. "The treaty that enters into force today will enhance international stability."
  

How New START Was Won - Kingston Reif for The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation [link]

• In general, the administration and its allies in the Senate kept New START on the path to approval by painstakingly working to build a bipartisan majority, rather than by humiliating or shaming undecided Republican Senators.
• Equally important, the administration called on key military leaders and former Republican officials to publicly and privately stress the national security merits of the treaty and its importance for U.S. leadership. It capitalized on the other side’s mistakes. And it benefited from some luck. That is how New START was won.
• The Senate is all about relationships; Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton leaned heavily on a number of their former Republican Senate colleagues to support the treaty. The administration also displayed remarkable unity and coordination. Secretary of Defense Gates and Secretary of State Clinton worked extremely well together.
• The President’s determination to push ahead despite Kyl’s Nov. 15 “there’s not enough time” statement. When Kyl walked away from the treaty, the administration didn’t overreact; it decided to push ahead with a vote without Kyl’s support, even though they had no assurance that they could win the necessary votes.
• President Obama’s endgame letters on modernization and missile defense which assuaged, at least rhetorically, some GOP Senators’ concerns.
• The Treaty never became a political issue outside of Washington, DC (as opposed to within the Senate), so Republican Senators were largely free to vote as they pleased.
• NGOs played a key role in generating news about the importance of the treaty, prodding the administration to pursue an aggressive lobbying and communications campaign in support of the treaty, coordinating grassroots efforts, organizing bipartisan military and national security validators, and communicating a message of bullishness and optimism about the treaty’s prospects to the media, Senate allies, and the administration.

US 'Leaks' Brit Secrets - Todd Venezia for The New York Post [link]

• In order to get Russia to agree to the New START nuclear-weapons treaty, the United States reportedly agreed to tell the Russians secrets about Britain's nuclear arsenal, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.  The United States told Russia that it would hand over the serial numbers of the Trident missiles it supplies Britain, one of America's closest allies.
• The serial numbers would give Russia a good handle on just how many missiles are in the hands of Britain, which has long refused to give any details of its nuclear-weapons program, according to The Telegraph newspaper.  It's not clear if the agreement will apply only to the missiles supplied from now on or to all of the Trident missiles in the UK's arsenal.
• America had asked the Britain to give up more detailed data on its nukes. The United States and Russia both reveal to each other such information about their own arsenals.  But Britain steadfastly refused, since it has such a comparatively small stockpile, the paper reported. The country's foreign secretary last year said that "up to 160" warheads are generally active, but wouldn't divulge the number of missiles.

Deeper Cuts Daunting After U.S.-Russia Nuclear Pact - Steve Gutterman in Reuters [link]

• The New START treaty, signed by presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev last April and set to be put into force at a ceremony in Munich on Saturday, is the centerpiece of a "reset" in long-strained bilateral relations as well as a crucial springboard toward a world without nuclear weapons.
• But cutting tactical nuclear weapons, with ranges up to 500 km (300 miles) -- a fraction of the 5,500 km (3,400 miles) and more that strategic missiles can travel -- could be a stiffer challenge for two countries that have not even revealed the numbers in their possession.
• When the U.S. Senate ratified New START, it ordered Obama to seek negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons within a year after it enters into force.
• "One of the problems the (U.S.) administration faces in the next negotiating round is being trapped between the Russians insisting on some missile defense limits and a Senate which will accept none," said Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
• "The way out of that box is missile defense cooperation."
  

Iran's Foreign Minister too Busy to Attend Security Conference – The Associated Press in The Washington Post [link]

• Iran's foreign minister and nuclear chief says he is too busy to attend an international security conference where his country's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions featured prominently in the past.
• Ali Akbar Salehi's decision was reported Saturday by the semi-official Iranian news agency Isna. It came several days after Britain's defense secretary said Tehran might be able to develop nuclear weapons by next year.
• Iran claims its nuclear program is limited to peaceful purposes. The U.S. and its allies insist Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons. Recent attempts by the U.S. and others to persuade Iran to open its atomic program to more scrutiny have failed.