AIDemocracy.org | New START

Depleted uranium: Side effects of nuclear weapons development

April 20, 2012 by Ana Ila Leave a Comment

Since their use in the Gulf War for the first time, depleted uranium penetrators continue to haunt most areas where the US troops were deployed in the Middle East. However, the threat they pose to people and their connections to nuclear weapons have been overlooked by most politicians and civilians. Depleted uranium (DU) is a lethal weapon. DU is a highly concentrated substance left over from the enrichment process that produces nuclear fuel and bombs. DU bullets were developed in the 1970s with the purpose of destroying top-line Soviet tanks. As a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: depleted uranium, New START, nuclear weapons

New START without nuclear weapons

April 5, 2012 by Ana Ila Leave a Comment

On April 8, 2010, President Obama signed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), a treaty between the United States and Russia regulating the buildup of nuclear weapons. The treaty entered into force in 2011. New START is a beginning of a new chapter, a “new step,” after the Cold War as the US faces new challenges in foreign affairs. There are benefits to the New START. According to Lindborg, ratification of New START signified a shift in nuclear arms control and an improvement in severely damaged Russian-U.S. relations. The cap was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: Cold War, New START, nuclear weapons, Russia

Many nukes treaties, too little action

December 21, 2011 by Ana Ila Leave a Comment

On December 6 Indonesia ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). However, their ratification points to the fact that eight countries, some of which possess nuclear weapons, have not ratified it: the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, Egypt, Iran, and North Korea. It is known that most of the countries on this list are in some kind of a dispute with their neighboring country and thus refuse to ratify the treaty. However, whereas the US action not to ratify the treaty is plausible due to the fact that such action would expose their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Security Tagged With: Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Deterrence, Indonesia, Middle East, New START, nuclear weapons, US foreign policy, war

What’s Happened Since the Tour?

January 5, 2011 by Patrick McDermott

Well, a lot has happened actually. Aside from Thanksgiving and the Holidays, which served as a great refresh, there has been much progress made on the nuclear weapons front. In case you didn't hear, New START was ratified! Albeit at one of the last possible moments, but nevertheless, it was ratified. In case you have not been following our posts and action regarding New START, in a nutshell, it calls for the US and Russia to reduce their strategic nuclear arsenals down to 1,550 each (1/3rd of their current levels) with a modern verification system in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: global peace and security, New START, nuclear weapons, Road to Zero Tour, war

New START Was Ratified…Thank You!

January 5, 2011 by Patrick McDermott

What better way to start off a new year with a New START! As one of the last tasks of the 111th Congress, they ratified the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. It is now up to the Russian Duma to ratify it, which is widely expected. It was a long fought battle, with delay after delay by some obstructionist Senators and more than a dozen hearings on the treaty. However, in the final analysis, we won and it couldn't have been done without your help! So, I want to personally thank everyone who sent letters and made phone calls to their Senators and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: New START, nuclear weapons, Russia

Playing Politics with Nuclear Weapons: Status of New START

December 7, 2010 by Patrick McDermott

Last week's editorial in USA Today makes the argument pretty clear, New START is being held up from ratification because of politics. Senator Kyl (R-AZ), the Senate Minority Whip and the Republicans' go-to guy when it comes to arms control, has been proverbially sitting on his hands with regard to New START. Although the Democrats can technically bring up the treaty for a vote as they have the majority, Republican support is still needed to ensure that the treaty is ratified without any unnecessarily long and drawn out process that could make it so that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: Congress, Missile Defense, New START, nuclear weapons

Have you called for ratification of New START yet?

October 27, 2010 by Patrick McDermott

If you have not, then you're in luck because AIDemocracy has made it very easy to contact your Senator and urge them to ratify New START without delay! New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is the first treaty in more than a decade that calls for significant reductions in the strategic nuclear arsenals of both the United States and Russia, the two nations that possess over 95% of the world's nuclear weapons. And it also provides for intrusive inspections and verification that each party to the treaty is holding up their end of the bargain. The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: New START, nuclear proliferation, Russia, US foreign policy

"Why No Nukes" Network Briefing Also a Success!

October 25, 2010 by Patrick McDermott

In addition to holding a briefing on the dangers of nuclear weapons with our Issue Analysts, we also wanted the whole AIDemocracy network to be "in the loop" when it comes to one of the greatest threats we face today. The network briefing took place on Wednesday, October 6th. I facilitated the discussion and provided an introduction to the development of, use and dangers of nuclear weapons. Specifically, I spoke about the three major threats that nuclear weapons pose for the world today: nuclear terrorism, nuclear accidents and miscalculated nuclear … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: New START, nuclear proliferation, youth

Follow the Money…A Republican Senator Stalling New START for "Pork"

August 25, 2010 by Patrick McDermott

It seems that given all of the fire and brimstone that Republicans love to shout will be raining down upon us for our shameless "tax and spend" policies of recent years, you would think that they themselves, to remain consistent with their statements, would be hawks when it comes to federal spending. And indeed they are, when it comes to spending on providing adequate health care of America's citizens and various other social welfare services. However, there seems to be a rather large exception for when it comes to military spending, particularly when it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Security Tagged With: Barack Obama, foreign policy, New START, nuclear proliferation, US foreign policy

Why Youth Need to Support New START

August 12, 2010 by Patrick McDermott

Given the title of this post, you may be understandably asking yourself, "what's New START?" Well, let me explain. New START is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia to reduce the numbers of strategic nuclear weapons that each of us have in our nuclear arsenals down to 1,550 each, a reduction of about a third of the current stockpiles. The reason the treaty is preceded by the word "New" is because there was a previous START, which was negotiated and ratified back when President George H. W. Bush was in … [Read more...]