Fwd: National Security Update - "Obama's Nuclear Agenda"

heritage.org | Heritage research | Blog |                         April 12, 2010 Issue in Depth: Obama's Nuclear Agenda On Tuesday, April 6, the Obama Administration unveiled its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), outlining America's overall nuclear strategy. While the highly anticipated NPR emphasizes updating the U.S. nuclear policy to confront the threats of nuclear terrorism and proliferation, the overarching vision of a world without nuclear weapons raises serious questions about the document's value for U.S. national security. The Obama Administration believes the NPR and recently signed New START agreement bolster its legitimacy to lead the world along the "road to zero" at this week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference next month. However, little evidence exists that U.S. arms reductions, restrictive nuclear thresholds, and questionable modernization efforts prevent the threat of nuclear proliferation. See our recent research in this week's National Security Update to see how these policies are undermining U.S. national security. Latest Research: The Heritage Foundation: The Obama Administration's Ballistic Missile Defense Program: Treading Water in Shark-Infested Seas The Obama Administration's plan for ballistic missile defense and its proposed FY 2011 budget for the missile defense program would leave the program treading water. At the same time, the threat of ballistic missile attack on the U.S. and its allies will continue to increase as more state and non-state actors gain and improve the missile capabilities. The Heritage Foundation: The START Treaty: Undermining National Security After more than a year of negotiations on a follow-on to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev reached an agreement. While many arms control advocates are jubilant about a 30% reduction in U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, larger questions linger. The Heritage Foundation: The START Follow-on Treaty: Questions the Senate Needs to Ask On April 8, President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Mevedev are scheduled to sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) follow-on treaty in Prague. The new treaty will require each side to reduce the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads to 1,550 and the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers and bombers to 800. The Heritage Foundation: Politics of Well-Known Japanese "Secrets" Risk American Nuclear Umbrella  On March 9, a Japanese foreign ministry panel revealed that several military agreements between Tokyo and Washington had been kept secret from the Japanese legislature and public for decades. The panel was created ostensibly to fulfill a Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) campaign pledge to improve government transparency. More Blogs: The Foundry: New START Would Render U.S. Vulnerable to Missile Attack                                                                                                   The Obama Administration, while acknowledging that there would be language in the preamble of New START alluding to a link between strategic offensive arms and missile defenses, asserted flatly that it would not impose any restrictions on U.S. missile defense options. The assertions have turned out to be misrepresentations. The Foundry: Nuclear Posturing                                                                                                 In NRO's symposium today, Clifford May notes that Iran's leaders will view the Nuclear Posture Review "as one more sign of a weakening America," and Jamie Fly argues that our self-imposed nuclear limitations will not convince Iran or North Korea to change their behavior. The Foundry: President Obama, Why Won't You Defend Us?                                                                                                  President Barack Obama today released five specific objectives regarding the United States' future nuclear force, but the most important objective of all – defending the United States and its allies against strategic attack – was not among them.   More Events: April 14, 2010, 12:00 PM Location: Washington, DC The Heritage Foundation: Iran's Nuclear Program: What Do We Know? Iran has spurned the Obama Administration's diplomatic engagement efforts and declared itself a "nuclear state." How close is Iran to acquiring a nuclear weapons capability? How good is U.S. intelligence on Iran's nuclear efforts? What can be done to prevent Iran from acquiring one of the world's most terrifying weapons? April 14, 2010, 9:00 AM Location: Washington, DC The Hudson Institute: Assessing the Nuclear Security Summit This event will discuss the Nuclear Security Summit held this week in Washington, DC and its implications for the security of the world's nuclear materials.  Copyright All Rights Reserved © 2009, The Heritage Foundation The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400

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