Strategic Panorama 2009 - 2010 - IEEE

Vicente Garrido Rebolledo
In addition to the new nuclear disarmament initiatives, the Obama
Administration has shown itself to be in favour of reinforcing most of the
international legal instruments of non-proliferation. This attitude is evident,
in particular, in the US Senate’s ratification of the CTBT (necessary for its
definitive entry into force); the support for the negotiation of a verifiable
Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT or Fissban); the strengthening of the
IAEA safeguard system; and the reinforcement of civilian nuclear cooperation
in nuclear matters, including the establishment of an International
Fuel Bank to provide states with access to nuclear energy for peaceful
purposes without increasing the risks of proliferation.
On 9 July 2009 the White House coordinator for arms control and
weapons of mass destruction, proliferation and terrorism, Gary Samore
(the nukes guy as he admitted President Obama calls him) delivered an
address on «The Obama Administration’s arms control and non-proliferation
strategy», which he described as being based on four pillars (56):
(1) Nuclear disarmament, especially the new positions on the negotiation
of a post-START agreement, ratification of the CTBT and the
beginning of negotiations for an FMCT.
(2) Nuclear non-proliferation, which focused above all on the most
immediate risks deriving from the policies of North Korea and Iran.
(3) Nuclear energy, recognising the right to its development but preventing
the announced «nuclear renaissance» from giving rise to
the spread of national uranium enrichment facilities.
(4) Nuclear security, aimed at guaranteeing the security of all world
nuclear materials.
Gary Samore also explained some of the important principles that inspire
the Obama Administration’s strategy. He defined the first as «practice
what you preach», which is essential to legitimising America’s new proposals.
He stressed that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation should
be synergetic and mutually reinforcing mechanisms, but in order for this
to occur it is up to the US and Russia to prove their willingness to reduce
their nuclear arsenals significantly in order to enlist the cooperation of the
other countries in their attempts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear
weapons. He also pointed out the Obama Administration’s conviction
that the new disarmament agreements with Russia, by creating a new
climate of confidence and cooperation between the two countries, would
contribute significantly to achieving a closer understanding between them
(56) Quoted in AGUIRRE DE CÁRCER, M., Las propuestas…., op. cit., p. 5.
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