06

The president: “States that will not respect non-proliferation treaties will be isolated”
Criticism of China: “Lack of transparency”.

WASHINGTON – Fewer atomic bombs but, above all, use of limited nuclear weapons and never against those countries that respect the commitments for non-proliferation. The new US strategy, which still leaves open the possibility of self-defense from nuclear threats represented by Iran or North Korea, was announced today with the release of the Nuclear Posture Review, already anticipated this morning from the US press, and then with a speech by President Barack Obama. A definition of the strategy that arrives 48 hours before the signing in Prague of the new US-Russia Start treaty between presidents Obama and Medvedev on disarmament and a week from the Washington Non-Proliferation Conference, in which 50 countries will participate.
Deterrence. The new strategy, Obama said, “constitutes a safe and effective deterrent system”. States “that do not respect non-proliferation agreements will remain isolated”. It is crucial for the president that the balance of weights within US national security is no longer centered on nuclear weapons. As far as the global balance is concerned, the goal is that “all the nuclear materials present in the world are made safe within the next four years”.

“We have aligned our policies and proposed more funding for programs that can prevent the spread of nuclear weapons around the world,” Obama said, recalling that next week’s Washington Summit will be “an opportunity for 47 nations to engage in significant steps to pursue the goal of security “.

The document. The salient point of the Nuclear Posture Review is that the United States will resort to nuclear weapons “only in extreme circumstances”, “only to defend the vital interest of the US or its allies or partners”. However, for the US government, nuclear terrorism remains the biggest and most immediate danger “. So much that Defense Secretary Robert Gates explained that:” Every option is on the table “in cases of threats from Iran and North Korea .

As for Russia, the US presidency has announced that it intends to prosecute with Moscow agreements for the reduction of nuclear weapons that go beyond the historic Start2 agreement, which will be signed Thursday in Prague: it provides for a 25% reduction in deployed nuclear weapons, bringing them to a maximum of 1,550 for each of the two former superpowers. Russian Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov stressed that it attests “a new level of trust” between the two countries, but warned that Moscow could come out of it if it feels threatened by the US anti-missile shield.

China. Finally, in the document, Washington invites Beijing to emerge from the ambiguity regarding nuclear weapons: the lack of transparency raises questions about its “future strategic aims”. On the sidelines of the Washington summit, President Obama will see Chinese Prime Minister Hu Jintao in a bilateral meeting.

(06 April 2010)