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“The Arms Control Association and all of the staff I've worked with over the years … have this ability to speak truth to power in a wide variety of venues.”
– Marylia Kelley
Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
June 2, 2022
Editor's Note
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Miles A. Pomper

President-elect Barack Obama will take office next month as the United States finds itself at a crucial crossroads in its nuclear weapons policy. Within the next year, the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia is set to expire, and the new administration is expected to conduct a review of the U.S. nuclear posture that will help set the course for the U.S. nuclear arsenal and U.S. weapons complex for years to come.

Obama has made clear the direction in which he wants to move: toward the global elimination of nuclear weapons. This month's issue includes Obama's responses to a series of written questions from Arms Control Today sent prior to the election. In this special section, Obama provides details of his views on U.S. nuclear weapons policy, missile and space policy, and other key arms control and nonproliferation issues.

This month's cover story, our interview with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, provides another valuable perspective on these issues. Kislyak is not only Russia's new ambassador to the United States but a former deputy foreign minister who often led negotiations on arms control and nonproliferation issues. He answered questions on subjects ranging from a potential follow-on agreement to START and the controversy over the Bush administration's proposal for a missile defense system in Europe to Russia's controversial suspension of implementation of the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty, as well as its approach to Iran.

Three U.S. experts provide their advice to the president-elect on future U.S. nuclear weapons policy. Richard L. Garwin says that the next administration should aim for a smaller nuclear stockpile and weapons complex that still provides challenging work for the country's nuclear weapons laboratories. Jeffrey Lewis argues that despite calls by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and others, there is no imminent need for a new U.S. nuclear warhead and the next administration should instead enhance current efforts to extend the lifespan of existing stockpiled warheads. Christopher F. Chyba explains why the Obama administration needs to look more systematically at the effect its decisions about the U.S. nuclear posture will have on nuclear nonproliferation efforts.

Our news section this month includes articles on how Obama's election is affecting the discussion about placing a U.S. missile defense system in Europe, Israeli concerns about how the new U.S. administration will deal with Iran's nuclear program, potential new rules at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) tightening standards on transfers of sensitive nuclear technology, and an analysis of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, set to open for signature this month.

Sharon Squassoni takes a look back at the landmark Nuclear Nonproliferation Act (NNPA) of 1978. She writes that although the NNPA has helped inspire significant global efforts to tackle nuclear proliferation, including through the NSG, many of the concerns that motivated its passage 30 years ago have yet to be fully addressed.