New START Ratification and Next Steps

The year 2010 ended with a new start. Senate ratification of the New START treaty on December 22nd was an important step forward for arms control. In this year's first edition of Arms Control Today, Tom Collina of the Arms Control Association, a Ploughshares grantee, has written an article that takes an in-depth look back on the eight-month-long ratification process and the eight days of floor debate leading up to the historic vote. 

The treaty passed with a vote of 71-26, despite active opposition from the Senate's two top Republicans - Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell (KY) and Whip Jon Kyl (AZ).  Collina outlines the steps taken by the Obama Administration and treaty supporters to assuage the concerns of undecided Republican Senators.  

In the end, as with every other major arms control agreement, New Start enjoyed strong bipartisan support and leadership from both sides of the aisle.  Collina quoted the remarks made by Senator Kerry (MA), who led the floor fight for the treaty, writing that in the case of New START '“the winners are not defined by party or ideology...the winners are the American people, who are safer with fewer Russian missiles aimed at them.”'

Collina also discusses the next steps on the U.S. arms control agenda, which include a multilateral ban on the production of fissile material and the ratification of the CTBT. 

Click here to read the whole article.