Getting to Zero
Working Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
Submission to the US Strategic Posture
Review Commission
BASIC has submitted a 10-page
brief (PDF) of recommendations for the US Strategic Posture
Review Commission (SPRC).
As mandated by the US National Defense Authorization Act
for Fiscal Year 2008, the SPRC "shall conduct a review
of the strategic posture of the United States, including a
strategic threat assessment and a detailed review of nuclear
weapons policy, strategy and force structure." The SPRC
will release its final recommendations in the Spring of 2009.
Executive Summary of BASIC submission
The U.S. nuclear arsenal has diminishing relevance to the
strategic threats faced by the United States today, and in
some cases, has unintended consequences that exacerbate these
threats. These threats, including the possibility of a nuclear
terrorist attack, and in the long-term, nuclear proliferation
leading to many additional nuclear weapons states, mean that
traditional bi-polar deterrence strategies are irrelevant.
The United States should undertake a series of unilateral
and multilateral actions that will improve U.S. security and
demonstrate its commitment to progress in nuclear disarmament,
which will reinforce international support for non-proliferation.
Some of these unilateral measures include foregoing the production
of new nuclear weapons designs, declaring a no-first use policy,
removing tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, and ratifying
the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty.
Furthermore, a future President looking to provide leadership
in global nuclear arms control and disarmament is likely to
find strong support from his closest allies, who have made
stronger declarations and movements within the past two years.
If the next administration can rapidly take the series of
prescribed unilateral measures and renew multilateral commitments,
then U.S. leaders will be in a better position to reinvigorate
arms control and other bi-lateral security relations with
Russia, which remains the United States' most important strategic
partner for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, notwithstanding
the current dispute over spheres of influence.
- Read BASIC's full
submission to the US Strategic Posture Review Commission,
10 September 2008 (PDF)
- Please visit the Getting to Zero blog
to post a comment about the submission.
- For more information about the SPRC, visit this
page from the United States Institute of Peace.
More on Getting to Zero
Working Towards a Nuclear Weapon-Free World
Also see:
BASIC's work is made possible by the generous support
of our donors: the Ploughshares
Fund, the Ford Foundation,
the Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Trust, Polden
Puckham Charitable Foundation, Rockefeller Family &
Associates, and individual contributors to BASIC. We are grateful
to all of them for their support.
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