So this NPR -- it's about the U.S. policies toward nuclear weapons. We recently got good news about Obama insisting that the U.S. have a new attitude about the damn things...
Here's some official language from WAND:
The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is a document that provides a framework for U.S. nuclear strategy. Since the end of the Cold War, Congress has mandated that each President issue a new NPR at the beginning of the administration’s term. President Obama is expected to issue a new NPR in 2009.
This NPR will be the third since the end of the Cold War. It should be dramatically different from the previous two. The Clinton NPR essentially ratified the Cold War status quo (despite the need to reconsider nuclear policy in light of the Soviet Union’s collapse). The Bush NPR basically undermined U.S. nonproliferation credentials.
Since President Obama has the ultimate responsibility for the NPR, the arms control community is looking for signs that it will align with his goal of “a world without nuclear weapons.” This NPR will include such things as the plans and policies for the role of nuclear weapons, international security strategy, the size and composition of U.S. nuclear forces, and the steps necessary to maintain safety and reliability of the current stockpile.
This is the moment of opportunity to move away from a Cold War paradigm, and to adjust our policies for a world where the real nuclear dangers have shifted away from the Soviet Union. WAND joins with other organizations in the peace and security community in advocating that the goals of this NPR should be:
• to recalibrate the U.S. nuclear deterrent in light of existing and emerging threats,
• to strengthen the U.S. hand in negotiations on improvements to the global nuclear nonproliferation regime, and
• to send a clear signal to the world that the U.S. is charting a new, multilateral course.
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