Arms Control

I read in the New York Times on Friday that the US and Russia had signed a new arms control treaty as a first step to retarting the START regime which expired last year. I have to say that this is one of the most important underreported pieces of news to have occurred in a loonnng time.

I realize that when it comes to politics, arms control has ceased to be a really sexy creature (if it ever was). It's understandable that issues like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, not to mention US domestic squabbles like health care and financial ruin, push a little arms control treaty off center stage. BUT what it indicates to me is that the Obama administration has its priorities set correctly (which was never the case IMHO with Bush). The Cold War may be a distant memory to many, and in fact we now have an entire generation that has grown up without the Soviet Union, but that doesn't mean that the overwhelming nuclear arsenals that exist on the planet are not potential threats. Bush completely ignored these issues, choosing instead to waste American blood, treasure and political capital on a misguided adventure in the Middle East.

Controlling the nuclear arsenals of the world is even more important now than it has ever been, and I actually take a great deal of solace in knowing that the current US administration is actually focusing on these issues. I also take great solace in the fact that everyone involved is talking about this treaty in realistic terms: it is a first step to re-establishing a more comprehensive arms control regime that was withering, and sets up a framework under which the US and Russia can discuss points of friction like NATO expansion and missile defense. Reading about this made my day.