Doing the Nuclear Posture Review right

For the third time since the end of the Cold War, the President of the United States has been mandated by Congress to conduct a thorough review of the U.S. nuclear posture. According to Ploughshares Fund's Joe Cirincione and Andy Grotto from the Center for American Progress, the 2009-2010 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) offers the incoming Obama Administration an opportunity to "strengthen America’s ability to exercise global leadership in countering 21st century nuclear threats," and to "realign nuclear policy, forces, and posture with these threats."

Cirincione's and Grotto's Orienting the 2009 Nuclear Posture Review takes lessons learned from the NPRs conducted by the Clinton and Bush administrations, and provides President-elect Obama with a roadmap for a review that is inclusive, transparent and points the way toward a completely new nuclear posture consistent with the realities of the 21st century.  At a roundtable today in Washington, D.C. introducing the study, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) asserted that "the new NPR should recommend ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty...No other single action could send a clearer signal to the rest of the world that the United States is committed to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons and materials."  Read the full report of Rep. Tauscher's remarks.