Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control (Part 4)

1. Nuclear Proliferation and Arms Control (Part 4)

2. Arms Control vs. Disarmament • Arms control : Any attempt to limit or regulate the number or the types of weapons that nations can possess. • Disarmament: Actions that reduce the existing number of weapons or that ban certain types of weapons.

3. Bilateral Disarmament(U.S. – Russian Arms Control) CFR Interactive: U.S. - Russian Arms Control

4. Strategic Nuclear Weapons • Long-range weapons usually with destructive power over one megaton. • Carried on ICBMs, bombers, and submarines

5. Bilateral DisarmamentSTART I and II Treaties (1990s) (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaties) • First agreements to reduce strategic nuclear weapons. • Also eliminated all multi- warhead missiles (like the MX). START I START II

6. Bilateral Disarmament Moscow Treaty (2002)

7. Bilateral DisarmamentMoscow Treaty (2002) (Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty) • U.S. and Russia agreed to reduce their deployed strategic warheads by two thirds - to between 1,700 and 2,200by the end of 2012. • Didn’t require the destruction of any weapons -- allowed warheads to be put in storage instead.

10. Bilateral DisarmamentNew Start Treaty, 2010 • Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed New Start Treaty in April, 2010. CNN Coverage of Treaty Announcement New Start Treaty Signing Ceremony CNN Explanation of Treaty

11. Bilateral DisarmamentProvisions of New Start Treaty • Limits U.S. and Russia to 1,550 strategic warheads (30% reduction from the current limits). • Limits launchers to 800 sub-based missiles, heavy bombers, and ICBMs (50% reduction from current limits. • Provides for inspections to verify compliance.

13. Senate Debate Over New Start Ratification Anti- New Start Treaty Commercial PRO New Start Interview with H. Clinton and M.Mullin

14. December, 2010Ratification of New Start • Senate voted 71-26 to ratify New Start Treaty. • Every Democrat and thirteen Republicans voted to ratify. The 26 no votes were all from Republicans. Report on Ratification of New Start Treaty

18. B53 Thermonuclear Bomb • Designed to destroy a city • 9 megatons • 10,000 lbs. Size of minivan • 600 x more powerful than • Hiroshima A-bomb. • Would kill everyone within • 10 miles. • Would destroy structures • within 15 miles. • Lethal burns from heat to • exposed people within 30 • miles • 340 built during Cold War.

19. Remaining U.S. H-Bombs • Largest remaining bomb in • U.S. arsenal is B-83 • 1.2 megatons. • 80x more powerful than • Hiroshima bomb. • Average U.S. warhead today • 300 kilotons • 24x more powerful than • Hiroshima bomb. B-83 Thermonuclear Bombs

21. Tactical Nuclear Weapons • Short-range weapons designed for use on the battlefield. • Destructive power ranges from 0.1 kiloton to 1.0 megatons. • Restrictions on tactical nukes? None. Not covered by any existing arms control treaties.

22. Tactical Nuclear Weapons

23. Tactical nuclear weapon test in Nevada

24. Tactical Nuclear Weapon Test

25. Review: Bilateral Disarmament • What’s the difference between arms control and disarmament? • What are strategic nuclear weapons? • Why were the START treaties of the 1990s significant? • What are the requirements of the 2010 New Start Treaty? • Has the U.S. Senate ratified New Start? • What are tactical nuclear weapons? • What are the existing limitations on tactical nuclear weapons?

26. Missile Defense

27. ABM Treaty (1972) (Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty) • Prohibited U.S. and USSR from building national missile defense systems. Why? • Goal was to maintain MAD. • Bush withdrew U.S. from ABM Treaty in 2001.

29. Bush’s Missile Defense Plan • A limited missile defense system to defend U.S. and Europe against missiles launched by states such as North Korea or Iran. • Interceptor missiles based in Alaska, California, ships at sea, and Poland. • Interceptors programmed to hit and destroy incoming missiles in mid-flight.

32. What two concerns about missile defense are expressed in this political cartoon?

33. What concern about missile defense does this cartoon express?

34. Does this cartoonist support missile defense?

35. Review: Missile Defense • What Cold War treaty prohibited missile defense? • Why was missile defense considered to be dangerous? • Why did President Bush withdraw the U.S. from the ABM Treaty? • Explain how the missile defense system deployed by Bush is designed to work.