14 DAY TRIAL // American president-elect Barack Obama's views on the course and actions to be undertaken in relation to the international mass-effect weapon possession and usage seem to be somewhat worrying. This is mainly because he appears largely interested in preventing the use of nuclear weapons, but much less so in dealing with the threat posed by other kinds of weaponry. For instance, the treaty-signing process banning cluster bombs to which over 100 countries participated on December 3rd marked the absence of the US representatives.
This is not to say though that America has no position on international arms control, or, even worse, that it shows interest in undermining such initiatives, like during the Bush administration, when such dedicated agencies were closed. Obama seems to have other, more pressing interests when it comes to weapons. In his vision, nuclear proliferation represents the "gravest threat" and he would prefer to attend a conference on this topic.
This is, perhaps, fueled by the fact that the START treaty of 1993 that prevented the US and Russia from developing nuclear weapons is coming to an end in a year, including the reciprocal inspections related to it. Although the declared goal is common, reducing the nuclear warhead stockpiles, the common mistrust, further fueled by America's missile defense initiatives in Europe, or Russia's recent operations in Georgia, prevents both military colossi from reaching a decent agreement. Obama would like for the inspections to be continued, though.
The American president also promised to help releasing the tensions in the Middle East, where about a dozen of countries refuse to obey the disarmament policies of the 1962 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, due to Iran's nuclear operations, in spite of the Iranian officials’ declarations, which state that these are purely civilian and completely peaceful.
Surprisingly, although Obama promised that he would "not authorize the development of new nuclear weapons," as cited by New Scientist, he still keeps Robert Gates – the current defense secretary (who is keen on designing a novel warhead) on his position. Also, Obama should start addressing other weapon threats, like honoring the recent invitation by a congressional committee to rank "the more probable threat of bioterrorism," while also repairing the damage done by the Bush administration to arms control institutions.