Arms Control Today

armscontrol.org/act/2009_5/Obama

Cole Harvey

President Barack Obama delivered his first major address on nuclear disarmament and
nonproliferation April 5 in Prague, declaring he would "seek the peace and security of a
world without nuclear weapons."

As a first step, Obama repeated his pledge to negotiate a successor agreement to the
1991 START with Russia. The conclusion of a new agreement with Russia would set the
stage for a second round of reductions, involving all nuclear-weapon states, Obama said.
The administration's lead U.S. negotiator on START, Assistant Secretary of State for
Verification, Compliance, and Implementation Rose Gottemoeller was confirmed by the
Senate on April 3 (see page 33).

In a reversal of Bush administration policy, Obama said his administration "will

immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty," which was rejected by the Senate in 1999. Nine specific countries, including the
United States, must ratify the treaty before it can come into force. Deputy Secretary of
State James Steinberg told the Carnegie International Nonproliferation Conference April 6
that Vice President Joe Biden is to lead a comprehensive review of the technical and
political issues surrounding the treaty and to develop a strategy for winning Senate advice
and consent for its ratification.

Obama also stated that, "to cut off the building blocks needed for a bomb, the United
States will seek a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials
intended for use in state nuclear weapons." Efforts to begin talks on a fissile material
cutoff treaty (FMCT) have been stalled in the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament
(CD) for more than a decade because the CD, which operates by consensus, has not
been able to agree on a work program. The Bush administration opposed including
verification measures in an FMCT and did not include such provisions in a draft treaty
submitted to the CD on May 18, 2006. The Bush administration's position broke a
consensus reached in the CD in 1995, known as the Shannon mandate, which directed
delegates to negotiate an "effectively verifiable" end to the production of weapons-grade
fissile material.

Obama also called for "a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation, including an
international fuel bank, so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing
the risks of proliferation." Under that concept, which has been supported by a number of
world leaders, including President George W. Bush, an international fuel bank would give
countries access to assured supplies of fuel for civilian nuclear reactors so that they
would not have an economic or energy-security justification for pursuing domestic
uranium-enrichment or spent fuel reprocessing programs.

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Obama reiterated that as long as nuclear weapons exist, the United States would
maintain "a safe, secure, and effective arsenal" to deter potential adversaries and
guarantee the defense of allies. But he emphasized that he was planning a new
approach. "To put an end to Cold War thinking, we will reduce the role of nuclear
weapons in our national security strategy and urge others to do the same," he said. The
administration is currently conducting a congressionally mandated nuclear posture
review, which is to be completed by December 2009.

Calling the possibility of a nuclear-armed terrorist group "the most immediate and extreme
threat to global security," Obama announced an international effort "to secure all
vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years." As part of this effort,
Obama advocated turning the Proliferation Security Initiative and the Global Initiative to
Combat Nuclear Terrorism into "durable international institutions." Both initiatives are
voluntary international affiliations established during the Bush administration and do not
impose any legal obligations on their members. To begin shoring up international
defenses against nuclear terrorism, the United States will host a global summit on nuclear
security within a year, Obama said.

The presidential address came just hours after North Korea launched a rocket that could
be used as a long-range missile. Obama used the North Korean launch to emphasize that
rules "must be binding" in the international disarmament and nonproliferation regime.
"Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," he said. Obama urged
North Korea and Iran to choose legal and peaceful integration within the international
community rather than the pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Representatives of major U.S. allies welcomed Obama's speech and his nuclear policy
goals. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs called Obama's address "a very positive
announcement" and said it stands "wholeheartedly alongside the United States in this
effort." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown backed Obama's call for nuclear
disarmament and said the possibility exists to make "huge advances quickly" in the
reduction of nuclear weapons worldwide. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier also applauded the speech "and the clear line it took on nuclear
disarmament." Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said in a statement that
Japan "strongly supports" Obama's call for a world without nuclear weapons and
welcomed the concrete steps the president outlined.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), speaking to reporters in Tokyo April 10, said he
"certainly supports" Obama's vision of a world without nuclear weapons but emphasized
the need to focus on Iran and North Korea, countries he called "destabilizing."

Obama acknowledged that the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons will not be
accomplished quickly but stressed that "as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear
weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this
endeavor alone, but we can lead it."

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