Morning Joe: Moscow, McNamara, and the Chance for a Nuclear-Free World

Stories we're following today:

A Chance for a Nuclear-Free World - Collins & Matlock in Foreign Policy [link]

• The political environment on disarmament and nonproliferation has changed drastically in recent months. Both countries have agreed in principle to work toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Talks to create a disarmament mechanism to replace the expiring Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) are well underway. For the first time in many years, it seems likely that the United States and Russia will make dramatic moves toward fulfilling their Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) disarmament obligations.

US, Russia deal would cut nukes to post-cold-war lows - Christian Science Monitor [link]

• President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev committed Monday to reaching a new nuclear-arms reduction agreement that would set both strategic warheads and warhead delivery vehicles, such as missiles, at post-cold-war lows.
• "They've hit the sweet spot in finding numbers that will be a significant reduction and likely to get the necessary support in their respective parliaments," says Joseph Cirincione.

Follow on to START - Jeffrey Lewis of Arms Control Wonk [link]

• I view the START Follow-on as an interim agreement to preserve the verification mechanisms in START (which disappear with START in December) for a second agreement that will take two or three years to negotiate. Deep cuts will have to wait for this second agreement, to which the Obama Administration has committed publicly.

Remembering Robert McNamara - NBC Nightly News [link]

MUST READ: Apocalypse Soon - Robert McNamara in Foreign Policy 2005 [link]

• It is time—well past time, in my view—for the United States to cease its Cold War-style reliance on nuclear weapons as a foreign-policy tool. At the risk of appearing simplistic and provocative, I would characterize current U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous.
• We must move promptly toward the elimination—or near elimination—of all nuclear weapons. For many, there is a strong temptation to cling to the strategies of the past 40 years. But to do so would be a serious mistake leading to unacceptable risks for all nations.

A View from the Dark Side

Arms Control Amnesia - Keith Payne in Wall Street Journal [link]

• Mr. Medvedev's solution is to negotiate, inviting the U.S. to make real cuts, while Russia eliminates nothing that it wouldn't retire in any event.
• In short, Russian leaders hope to control or eliminate many elements of U.S. military power in exchange for strategic force reductions they will have to make anyway. U.S. leaders should not agree to pay Russia many times over for essentially an empty box.

What's at Stake- Gaffney in the Washington Times [link]

• Indeed, for far too long, scarcely any Americans have addressed the contribution nuclear weapons make to their well-being, except perhaps to indulge in thoughtless -- albeit, politically correct -- nostrums about the desirability of abolishing such arms.