U.S. President Barack Obama gives a speech at the G20 summit in London, April 2, 2009.
AP Photo
Obama's Nuclear Speech: Required Reading
Media Feature
April 3, 2009
Author: Sasha Talcott, Director of Communications and Outreach
President Barack Obama is expected to deliver a major address on nuclear nonproliferation Sunday during a visit to the Czech Republic. While details have not yet been announced, it is likely that at least part of the address will follow in the footsteps of Obama's campaign promises on nuclear issues. Below is some "required reading" for each of the major issues at stake, drawing on Obama's campaign pledges.
On Preventing Nuclear Terrorism and Securing Nuclear Materials:
Obama campaign website: "Secure Nuclear Weapons Materials in Four Years and End Nuclear Smuggling: Barack Obama will lead a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons materials at vulnerable sites within four years - the most effective way to prevent terrorists from acquiring a nuclear bomb. Barack Obama will fully implement the Lugar-Obama legislation to help our allies detect and stop the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction."
Recommended reading:
- Preventing Nuclear Terrorism: An Agenda for the Next President
- Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe
- Frequently Asked Questions about Nuclear Terrorism
- Key Takeaways from Report of the Congressionally-established Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism
- The Ongoing Failure of Imagination
- How to Keep the Bomb from Terrorists
On Reducing U.S. and Russian Nuclear Weapons:
Obama campaign website: "Seek Real, Verifiable Reductions in Nuclear Stockpiles: Barack Obama will seek deep, verifiable reductions in all U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons and work with other nuclear powers to reduce global stockpiles dramatically by the end of his presidency."
Recommended Reading:
- Report from the Commission on U.S. Policy Toward Russia
- Gorbachev Calls for the Elimination of All Nuclear Weapons
On a Nuclear-Free World:
Obama (July 24, 2008 speech): "This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons."
Recommended reading:
- Toward a Nuclear-Free World (oped by George P. Shultz, William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn — endorsed by Graham Allison, Matt Bunn and Ashton Carter).
- Time to Bury a Dangerous Legacy
- A Nuclear Weapon-Free World is Possible, Nunn Says
On Iran:
Obama campaign website: "Obama supports tough, direct presidential diplomacy with Iran without preconditions."
Recommended Reading:
- We Should Talk to Our Enemies
- Bargaining with Russia to Contain Iran
- Iran and Nuclear Diplomacy After the Ultimatum
- The Nightmare This Time
- Iran's Nuclear Deception
- Constraining Iran's Nuclear Program: Assessing Options and Risks
On the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):
Obama campaign website: "Strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): Barack Obama will seek to ensure that the Agency gets the authority, information, people, and technology it needs to do its job."
Recommended Reading:
On North Korea:
Obama Statement (Oct. 11, 2008): “It is now essential that North Korea halt all efforts to reassemble its nuclear facilities, place them back under IAEA supervision, and cooperate fully with the international community to complete the disablement of the Yongbyon facilities and to implement a robust verification mechanism to confirm the accuracy of its nuclear declaration.”
Recommended Reading:
On Pakistan:
Vice President Biden (March 2009): “It is hard to imagine a greater nightmare for America than the world’s second-largest Muslim nation becoming a failed state in fundamentalists’ hands, with an arsenal of nuclear weapons and a population larger than Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea combined.”
Recommended Reading:
- Pakistan: What about the Nukes?
- Pakistan’s Political Unrest Prompts Questions about Nuclear Arsenal (media transcript)
- Pakistan Instability Raises Nuclear Concerns
For more information about this publication please contact the Belfer Center Communications Office at 617-495-9858.
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