March 29, 2010 12:00AM
Courtesy Of The Australian
TO coin a pun, the new US-Russian nuclear arms deal being heralded by the White House is a start.
US President Barack Obama has put his political credibility on the line by saying he wants the US to lead in reducing the world's nuclear arsenals.
The agreement announced at the weekend, which replaces the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, or START, gives Mr Obama something tangible to work with. He will undoubtedly trumpet early progress when he addresses a nuclear security summit he will host in Washington on April 12 and 13.
The real impact of the proposed nuclear arms pact with Russia is another thing.
It is a modest compromise. There is also uncertainty about whether a testy US congress will give its approval.
The 1991 START agreement cut in half the stockpiles of nuclear warheads.
The new deal Mr Obama is to co-sign with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on April 8 aims to cut the strategic warheads of each country from a current ceiling of 2200 to 1550 within seven years of the treaty's operation.
Delivery vehicles such as missiles, bombers and submarines are to be cut from 1600 to 800 each.
The US and Russia still have arsenals sufficient to destroy each other, and the world, many times over.
Besides deployed warheads, there is the question of dealing with stored warheads and tactical nuclear warheads.
Between them, the US and Russia are believed to have 20,000 nuclear weapons.
There is the challenge for both powers to persuade other nations with nuclear weapons, and aspiring nuclear powers such as Iran and North Korea, to abandon their programs when the restraint of the main players is limited.
And there is the question of world co-operation to ensure that no warheads fall into the hands of terrorists.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the agreement as "real progress" in the US-Russian relationship, but the Kremlin has been low-key to say the least.
One reason is the Russian leadership's continuing concern about the US missile defence program that could cancel out the deterrent effect of reducing deployed warheads at an even rate on both sides.
The decision of the Obama administration to scrap George W. Bush's proposed missile shield in Eastern Europe was a show of good faith for the Russians, but has not removed broader doubts.
For the treaty to come into force, Obama will need a two-thirds majority vote at a time when his Republican Party opponents are not in a mood for co-operating.
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