Connecting the Dots: Nuclear Arms Control and Proliferation After Bush and Putin

Russia and the United States have opportunities for significant accomplishments in nuclear arms control during the denouement of the George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin Presidencies and in the early stages of the new American and Russian administrations. Both states should establish momentum that carries forward toward meaningful post-START and post-SORT strategic nuclear arms reductions. In addition, those reductions should provide a basis for Russian and American leadership in supporting the nuclear nonproliferation regime, including the rollback of North Korea's nascent nuclear capability and the prevention of Iran's nuclear weaponization. The costs of failure in either of these endeavors, let alone both, should be unacceptable to Russian, U.S. and allied NATO leaders.