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PacNet #63 – The United States, China, and Nuclear Arms Control: Time for a Creative Spark

Earlier this summer, President Barack Obama gave a landmark speech in Berlin to reinvigorate a nuclear arms control agenda that has languished since the ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in late 2010. If Obama puts his words into action, the next step will be a follow-on treaty between the United States and Russia. This new treaty would cap deployed strategic warheads at approximately 1,000, and could tackle weapons systems that have not been addressed before, including tactical nuclear weapons and missile defense, though there is thus far little agreement on scope.