Hot on the Traces...
START-2 Treaty and Further Nuclear
Arms Reductions page
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Under this title, we cover public news media
discussions of the most interesting events related with nuclear disarmament.
Currently, the major events of December, 1997 are in the focus.
U.S. Nuclear Strategy Has
Been Slightly Changed
Updated on May 15, 1998.
On December 7, 1997, The Washington Post reported about changes
in U.S. nuclear strategy: (Clinton
Directive Changes Strategy On Nuclear Arms, by R. Jeffrey Smith,
The Washington
Post, Page A01). The new plan calls for the U.S. to abandon
its strategy of being able to win a protracted nuclear war. However,
the new guidelines could reinforce several negative aspects of America's
nuclear doctrine. In particular, current doctrine assumes, that the U.S.could
respond to chemical or biological weapon attacks with nuclear weapons even
if the aggressor is a non-nuclear weapon state.
The new plan is discussed in the following publications:
-
Dangerous Directions, (by William M. Arkin & Hans Kristensen), Crossed
t's, dotted i's (by William M. Arkin). Both papers published in The
Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, March/April 1998, Vol. 54, No. 2.
-
Clinton Approves Strategy Change (by Barry Schweid, Associated Press,
Wednesday, January 7, 1998)
-
Good Wishes, and Real Doings. New U.S. Nuclear Strategy is Based on Cold
War Principles. (Sergei Kortunov, NVO
-NG, December 26 - January 8, 1997, p.2).
-
One Baby Step Forward, Two
Giant Steps Back, (by Andrew Koch, Weekly
Defense Monitor # 21, December 11, 1997, published by the Center
for Defense Information )
-
Back
From a Nuclear Brink, (The
Washington Post, Thursday, December 11, 1997; Page A26)
-
The U.S. Changes
Its Nuclear Policy (in Russian - by Dmitry
Gornostayev, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, December 9, 1997, p.1)
-
Clinton Administration Gives Up the Idea of Winning in Nuclear War (by
Nikolay Zimin, Segodnya,
December 9, 1997, p.1,4)
-
A Large Scale Nuclear War Will Not Occur, But a Small One Is Not Excluded
(by Vladimir Nadein, Izvestia,
December 9, 1997, p. 3)
More on the topic of the interest:
Russian President's New Nuclear
Disarmament Initiatives
Updated on March 23, 1998.
On December 2, 1997, Russian President Boris Yeltsin
declared a new initiative in the disarmament of nuclear arsenals. He announced
in Stockholm that Russia would unilaterally reduce its nuclear warheads
by one-third. Yeltsin emphasized that Russia "intends to persuade Britain,
France, and China to join in the convention on the destruction of nuclear
warheads". "We must bring the question to an end and totally destroy
these weapons on both sides", stressed the President (reported
by RIA-Novosti, December 3, 1997).
Russian and Western public press continues
to comment President Yeltsin's statements:
-
The
Russian President's Stockholm Initiatives Should Be Regarded Not As
a Decision to Start Actually Cutting the Armed Forces, but as Russia's
Initiatives with an Eye to the Future, stated Sergei Yastrzhembsky. Today's
resolution by the State Duma which qualifies the Russian President's Stockholm
initiatives as allegedly contradicting the Russian legislation is not
constitutional, stated the President's press secretary to journalists.
(RIA-Novosti,
December 18, 1997)
-
Sergeyev Specifies President's Intentions (by Vladimir Ostrovskii,
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, December
9, 1997, p. 2)
-
Defense Minister: No Unilateral Nuclear Arms Cuts (Russia
Today, December 8, 1997)
-
Agonized Peace Initiatives (by Pavel Felgenhauer, Segodnya,
December 5, 1997, p. 1), Starts and Stops in Defense (by Pavel Felgenhauer,
St. Petersburg Times, December
8-14, 1997)
-
Boris Yeltsin's Stockholm Impromptus Need Explaining (by Andrey Smirnov
and Valeria Sycheva, Segodnya,
December 5, 1997, p. 4).
-
Reductions of Warheads: The Parity Only (by Vladimir Katin, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, December 5, 1997, p. 2)
-
We Will Not Threaten to Swedes from Now: Boris Yeltsin's Stockholm Statements
Mystified the West Strongly (by Nikolay Zimin Segodnya,
December 5, 1997, p. 6)
-
Our President Has Again Rocked the Planet (by Boris Yamshanov, Rossiyskaya
Gazeta, December 5, 1997, p. 2)
-
Boris Yeltsin Suddenly Has Disarmed in Stockholm
(by Vera Kuznezova, Izvestia
, December 4, 1997), Boris Yeltsin Has Disarmed
(by Victor Litovkin, Izvestia
, December 4, 1997)
-
Boris
Yeltsin's Nuclear Impromptu in Stockholm Had to Be Edited by Press-Secretary
(in Russian - by Dmitry Gornostayev, Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, December 4, 1997)
-
Russia Offer Doesn't Impress NATO (by Jeffrey Ulbrich, Associated Press,
December 4, 1997)
-
Kremlin Downplays a Yeltsin Surprise (by Reuters, The
Boston Globe, December 3, 1997, p.A17).
-
Boris Yeltsin Decided, that It is Time for Russia
to Get Rid of One Third of Its Nuclear Warheads (Segodnya,
December 3, 1997)
-
Yeltsin
Reveals Nuclear-Arms Initiative (by David Hoffman, The
Washington Post, December 3, 1997, p. A36)
-
US State
Department and Ministry
of Defense comment on Yeltsin's statements (in Russian - by RIA-Novosti,
December 3, 1997)
-
"Yeltsin Says Russia Will Cut Nukes" and "Aide
Disputes Yeltsin's Nuke Claim" (by Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press,
December 2, 1997)
-
Yeltsin says Russia will cut nuclear warheads by
33%, (CNN
report, December 2, 1997)
This page is maintained by Eugene
Miasnikov.
Additions are much welcome. Please,
send your suggestions, comments and questions to eugene@iris.mipt.ru
© Center for Arms Control, Energy
and Environmental Studies at MIPT , 1997-98.