{"219091":{"#nid":"219091","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Nunn Applauds Obama\u0027s Nuclear Policy","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFormer Senator\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/faculty-and-staff\/faculty\/bio\/nunn\u0022 target=\u0022_self\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESam Nunn\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, distinguished professor in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cstrong\u003EThe Sam Nunn School of International Affairs\u003C\/strong\u003E, issued a statement on President Obama\u0027s speech in Berlin, Germany on June 19th, 2013. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPresident Obama set a clear direction for\u0026nbsp;America\u0027s nuclear policy\u0026nbsp;today\u0026nbsp;in Berlin and reinvigorated the U.S. administration\u0027s efforts to work with other nations to reduce nuclear dangers.\u0026nbsp; I\u0026nbsp;strongly support\u0026nbsp;the President\u0027s commitment to host a Nuclear Security Summit in 2016, following the Summit in the Netherlands in 2014, and his continued leadership and focus on securing nuclear materials globally, which is the most significant step we can take to prevent catastrophic nuclear terrorism.\u0026nbsp; Working to reduce Russian and U.S. strategic and tactical nuclear weapons in a stabilizing way and stopping nuclear proliferation are also goals that I endorse.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMany of the specific steps in the President\u0027s speech\u0026nbsp;today\u0026nbsp;are long-overdue.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;A Cold War mindset and Cold War nuclear\u0026nbsp;weapons strategies are not effective in dealing with the threats of\u0026nbsp;today\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;in the future. \u0026nbsp;When\u0026nbsp;a large and growing number of nuclear-armed adversaries confront multiple\u0026nbsp;perceived threats, the risk that deterrence will fail and that nuclear weapons\u0026nbsp;will be used\u0026nbsp;increases dramatically. \u0026nbsp;It is\u0026nbsp;also very difficult to reduce nuclear risks globally, and set an example encouraging non-proliferation, when\u0026nbsp;Washington, Moscow, and Europe are postured for\u0026nbsp;mutually assured destruction on\u0026nbsp;a planet-ending scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIncreasingly these steps must be embraced beyond the United States and Russia and include other states with the capability to produce nuclear weapons and materials.\u0026nbsp; These objectives cannot be achieved by focusing only on the number of weapons.\u0026nbsp; Regional mistrust, fears, and misunderstandings, which give rise to nations seeking and retaining nuclear weapons, must be addressed. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere is growing global support in key regions for action.\u0026nbsp; Next week in Singapore,\u0026nbsp;former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of Defense Bill\u0026nbsp;Perry and I, along with more than 30 global leaders and experts\u0026nbsp;from 18 countries on\u0026nbsp;five continents, will gather to address these urgent global nuclear threats and recommend key steps to reduce\u0026nbsp;nuclear dangers around the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAchieving the goals set by the President\u0026nbsp;today\u0026nbsp;will require\u0026nbsp;a new strategy for building mutual security covering a broad range of security issues -- beginning in the Euro-Atlantic\u0026nbsp;region, an area that\u0026nbsp;includes four of the nine nuclear armed states, nine of the 15 states with nuclear weapons on their territory, and more than 95\u0026nbsp;percent of global nuclear inventories. \u0026nbsp;A strategy for building mutual security in the Euro-Atlantic\u0026nbsp;area and\u0026nbsp;ending Cold War force postures is necessary to achieve further\u0026nbsp;reductions in strategic and tactical nuclear weapons and will require leadership from Russia, Europe and the United States. \u0026nbsp;Progress here can\u0026nbsp;also strengthen the\u0026nbsp;ability of countries in this region to provide\u0026nbsp;leadership on these issues globally.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe President made a strong case in Berlin\u0026nbsp;today\u0026nbsp;for why it is\u0026nbsp;in America\u0027s and the world\u0027s vital interest to change the nuclear status quo,\u0026nbsp;and he laid the\u0026nbsp;foundation for important steps. \u0026nbsp;Progress will require the same level of focus as a foreign policy crisis, but the focus must be maintained to turn these words\u0026nbsp;into\u0026nbsp;accomplishments. \u0026nbsp;As my colleague George Shultz has said, \u2018We need to jack up our\u0026nbsp;resolve, use our best brains and creativity, and get moving on this problem\u0026nbsp;now.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27848","created_gmt":"2013-06-25 10:41:50","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:14:27","author":"Claire Woodring","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2013-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECathy Gwin\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESenior Director of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENuclear Threat Initiative\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E202-454-7706\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E202-270-5942\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}