Obama and the START Treaty

Ratification by the U.S. Congress of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the U.S. and Russia has brought a lot of relief to a Barack Obama who was afraid he might finish the first half of his term without legislative victories that allow him to fulfill his campaign promises. The U.S. president has been able to carry forward some relevant laws with a Congress of Democratic majority in both chambers, in contrast to the one that will be established next month. Among them are health care reform, financial regulation and the dignity of homosexuals in the military.

The new treaty with Moscow, which will reduce the number of long-range nuclear warheads by 30 percent and re-establish the testing mechanisms, is not a giant step — much less in a world where nuclear proliferation increases in other places, such as North Korea or Iran. However, as an extension of the previous START treaty, it represents a remarkable gesture of mutual trust in a crucial area between Moscow and Washington and has been signed by Putin this week. The treaty widens the credibility of Obama in his international commitments, which will be more difficult to achieve with the new right-wing Congress poised to get started in January — a consequence due to the failure of Democrats in the November elections.

Republicans have been working during their congressional term to ensure that the new START treaty — submitted to Congress in May — highlights the crucial aspects of U.S. strategic capabilities. Obama, to the relief of his opponents and the Pentagon, has pledged more than $4 billion to modernize the nuclear warheads in U.S. arsenals. He has also pledged to leave U.S. defense plans against long-range missiles intact. Obama had promised to cut those plans during his campaign.