Global Security Newswire

A former U.S. arms control official has agreed to serve as WMD nonproliferation "czar" for President Barack Obama, Fox News reported today. Creation of the post was urged by official reviews and experts -- and required by U.S. lawmakers -- but the Bush administration declined to adopt the recommendation (see GSN, June 23, 2008).

Gary Samore, vice president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has been tapped for the new position, which could field a staff of up to 10 in the White House. Samore served in the Clinton-era White House and State Department, participating in the negotiation of the 1994 Agreed Framework with North Korea, a pact ditched by the Bush administration.

More recently as an outside commentator, he has offered limited praise for the 2007 North Korean denuclearization pledge, warning that difficult times lay ahead (see related GSN story, today).

"We shouldn't kid ourselves: This is only the very beginning of the toughest part of the negotiations," Samore said (Judith Miller, Fox News, Jan. 29).