Obama, Medvedev Sign New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START II, in Prague

START II, a new start in right direction

BRUSSELS, April 9, 2010, (Xinhua) --

The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that was signed by the United States and Russia in Prague on Thursday marks a crucial step for the world's top two nuclear powers on the road toward weapons denuclearization.

It was another major nuclear disarmament event 19 years after the United States and the former Soviet Union reached an accord that barred the signatories from deploying more than 6,000 nuclear warheads atop a total of 1,600 intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and bombers.

The widely hailed new pact is conducive to easing frustrated U.S.-Russian ties and pushing forward nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation process on a global scale.

However, the ideal of "a safe and peaceful world free of nuclear weapons" still seems as remote as ever unless the two nuclear powers exert further sincere efforts to shoulder their due responsibilities.

Mankind stepped across the nuclear threshold during World War II. In the Cold War era, both the Soviet Union and the United States stuck to the nuclear "Balance of Terror" strategy and carried out a full-fledged arms race.

The nuclear balance and deterrent strategy played a significant role in preventing an all-out war between the two major world nuclear powers. It also brought about great danger to global security, much like a Sword of Damocles dangling over the head of mankind.

When the Cold War ended, the world changed rapidly toward a multipolarized setup. The nuclear balance was broken especially after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the drastic change of the political systems in Eastern Europe.

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, terrorism and other non-traditional threats to world security soared, so nuclear terrorism and proliferation became the foremost threat to international security.

The Iraq war, the Afghan war and the global financial crisis forced the United States to adopt a contracted global strategy. The development of high-tech arsenals and the fallout world military reforms weakened the function of nuclear weapons.

Given all the above mentioned, START II could be deemed as a necessary result of combined factors -- the changing international security environment, the adjustment of the two countries' strategies and the advancement of modern military technology.

Almost simultaneously, the world's people came to realize that a safe world must get rid of nuclear threats first. So, the United States and Russia, which possess 90 percent of the world's nuclear warheads, should lead to cut their nuclear stockpiles by a wide margin.

Over the last 30 years, the U.N. Security Council has passed a series of resolutions on nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation, thanks to efforts made by the world's countries.

It is a common wish of all peace-loving countries and people in the world that the Global Zero movement, or a nuclear-free world could be realized.

At this moment, nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation has become prominent against the backdrop of the complicated international security environment.

The super powers have unshirkable responsibilites to adjust their nuclear policies, rein in anti-missile defense systems, and prevent nuclear proliferation through dialogue and take substantial actions.

Only by this can they conform to the tide of world peace and development, win international trust and support, secure their own and long-term interests and contribute to the security enterprises of mankind.

Editor: Han Jingjing

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