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Arms Control. The 2001 NPR departs from the policies of the 1994 Nuclear
Posture Review in several ways. First, it rejects the tenet
that binding arms control agreements are an essential component of
U.S. nuclear policy. For example, the 2001 NPR rejected the
applicability of the Anti-Ballistic
Missile (ABM) Treaty and
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the new security
environment. This security environment is defined in the 2001 NPR by
increased cooperation and friendship with Russia, and these treaties
are viewed as outdated.
The United States, in the 2001 NPR, states
that it seeks to move away from arms control agreements that are
based on ensuring the continuity of deterrence based on the "balance
of terror" between
Russia and the United States. The ABM Treaty in particular was viewed by the Bush
administration as a relic of Cold War hostilities, and the United
States formally
withdrew from the treaty in 2002. The New Triad, introduced in the
2001 NPR, calls for the inclusion of a national ballistic missile
defense architecture, which was banned in the ABM Treaty.
The ABM Treaty. The ABM Treaty was designed
to limit the number and scope of ballistic missile defenses (BMD) in both
the Soviet Union and the United States as a means to enforce the
notion of
deterrence based on mutually assured destruction (MAD).
This relationship was considered stable. Policy-makers believed that
neither side would risk launching a first-strike out of fear of
retaliation because neither side would possess the means to shoot
down incoming missiles.
With the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and
their delivery systems (ballistic missiles) to "rogue" states and
terrorists, however, the United States is no longer fearful of a
first-strike from Russia, which is now considered to be an ally in
the war on terror. In the absence of an impending nuclear threat
from Russia, the Bush administration argued that the ABM Treaty was
no longer relevant because it hampered the ability of the United States to
protect itself against a ballistic missile
attack from other state and
non-state actors.
The Bush administration capitalized on its friendly relationship
with Russia and formally withdrew from the ABM Treaty in 2002. The
United States views this move not only as a step forward in
establishing better relations with Russia, but also as a means of
protection against other actors armed with ballistic missiles. (See
"BMD and Russia: The Debate
over the ABM Treaty.")
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Further Reading:
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Globalsecurity.org,
2001 Nuclear Posture Review [Excerpts]
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White House,
"ABM Treaty Fact Sheet" |
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U.S. State Department,
"The Weapons of Mass Destruction Threat" |
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U.S. State Department,
"National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction" |
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Disarmament Diplomacy, (Clinton-era Nuclear Policy),
"U.S. Deterrence Posture and Requirements: Congressional Testimony
(1998)" |
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Arms Control Today,
Panel Discussion,
"Parsing the Nuclear Posture Review" |
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CRS, Amy Woolf,
"The
Nuclear Posture Review: Overview and Emerging Issues" |
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Arms Control Association,
Strategic Arms Control and Policy |
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CACN,
"Briefing Book on the Bush-Putin Summit and the U.S. Nuclear Posture
Review" |
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