US to Allow Arms Control Treaty to Lapse
The US will allow the START Treaty to elapse at the end of 2009. This is very interesting and I believe justifiable in many ways. The large number of verification procedures contained in the document are largely irrelevant. If either the US or Russia wanted to cheat, they could. Given the new range of threats we face, it seems we should retain maximum flexibility in designing the systems of the future. That said, the goodwill engendered through such a treaty is not irrelevant. I think the real question is whether our strategic flexibility trumps the need for Russian goodwill and intimate cooperation on weapons verification. In the Cold War and the immediate aftermath of the Soviet collapse, it did not. Now, I think a convincing case can be made that it does. Naturally, we will need to look for some type of successor arms reduction regime, however, whatever form that takes, it will have to make sense given new strategic realitiy.
More on the background of START and the various motivation for renewing it or for creating a new treaty. THis is from the point of view that a new treaty or a START renewal is unambiguously good and specifically stands in some manner against my thoughts on the need for flexibility. That said, it is still a good primer.
More on the background of START and the various motivation for renewing it or for creating a new treaty. THis is from the point of view that a new treaty or a START renewal is unambiguously good and specifically stands in some manner against my thoughts on the need for flexibility. That said, it is still a good primer.
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