A Year After Prague, Obama's Season for Disarmament Has Begun

We are happy to serve you a daily summary of the day's top nuclear policy stories each morning, with excerpts from the stories in bullet form.

Stories we're following today:

A Season for Disarmament - Hans Blix in The International Herald Tribune [link]

• The season for nuclear disarmament has finally arrived.
• The New START treaty will be received positively. There will be praise for the Obama administration’s attitude toward arms control and disarmament and for Russia’s readiness to join hands with the United States.
• While focusing on many near-term measures, such as the current deal, Mr. Obama and Mr. Medvedev jointly espoused the long-term aim of full disarmament in a declaration in London in April 2009.
• For the moment, there is a hopeful start on a long journey.

Four Minutes to Armageddon - David Hoffman in Foreign Policy [link]

• Sources tell me that President Obama's new Nuclear Posture Review, which is expected to come out before he heads to Prague to sign the new strategic arms treaty, will make a fresh effort to address the issue of nuclear weapons on alert.
• The posture review is a document intended to establish the U.S. strategy and policy on nuclear weapons for the next five to 10 years.
• Obama's nuclear posture review looked at de-alerting the missiles, but the president has decided not to propose it in the sense of physically altering the weapons.
• Rather, the review is expected to highlight the need to get to the root of the problem: move away from nuclear doctrines and postures that would lead to a prompt launch.

Nuclear Heartland Anxious About Missile Cuts - The Associated Press [link]

• In Judith Gap, Montana, where underground missile silos dot the landscape, a proposed U.S.-Russia treaty to reduce nuclear weapons is nothing short of alarming.
• The fate of the 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles around Malmstrom, F.E. Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyo., and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota is not yet clear.
• But politicians and community leaders are ready to fight to keep them.
• The bases employ thousands, provide contract work for local businesses and base personnel spend money and pay taxes to the towns.

Obama to Meet With 11 European Leaders - The New York Times [link]

• President Obama will meet with leaders of Central and Eastern Europe when he travels to Prague next week to sign a new arms control treaty with Russia.
• The dinner is part of an effort by the Obama administration to balance its embrace of Russia with signs of support for allies in the region that remain estranged from or suspicious of Moscow.
• After a meeting with Mr. Medvedev and a lunch hosted by Czech leaders, the two presidents will hold a signing ceremony and a news conference.

Double Standards and Pakistan's Quest for Nuclear Power - Nukes of Hazard Blog [link]

• Critics of the U.S-India Deal have long warned that not only did the arrangement have the potential to undermine the global nonproliferation regime, but it would also make it more difficult to say no to other countries, particularly Pakistan, demanding the same treatment in the future.
• Many observers have noted that the Nuclear Suppliers Group's exemption for India conferred a sense of legitimacy on the Indian nuclear program – despite the fact that it is not a signatory to the NPT – and Pakistan – which has also not signed the NPT – wants similar recognition.
• Taking all this into account, Pakistan is beginning in earnest to pressure the U.S. for similar cooperation, and for the first time, some in the U.S. appear willing to explore the possibility.
• But even preliminary discussions about a deal with Pakistan could be detrimental at a time when the Obama administration is preparing for the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit and Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.