Balkingpoints.com / Balkers

5 Responses to “ Nuclear Security Summit ”

1. USA / Roy G says:

   14 April, 2010 at 5:26 PM

   Nice job on these Jeff.

   Just prior to this summit, which was only a 2-day event, Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed the first update to the START (strategic arms reduction) pacts since 1991.

   While the total reduction from present overkill stockpiles would be no more than 30%, the point they made in that signing was that USA and Russia hold 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons. So the emerging and greater problem of proliferation – especially to rogue states and gihad lunatics – can’t resonably be expected to be curtailed if the 2 biggest nuclear states cannot manage to reduce their own.

   These summits always fall short of their mark, but I like them because we’re not solving any world issue or problem without such dialog. In this
   the Global Century, progress can only happen through the coordination
   and cooperation of nations.
2. South Africa / Madeleine says:

   14 April, 2010 at 6:50 PM

   I couldn’t agree more. If no dialogue took place, nothing would ever happen. This is a difficult and contentious issue; but Pres. Obama has come out on the positive side and made a start (sorry about pun!) on something that, as you say, has been marking time for nearly two decades.
   I’ve been cynical about nonproliferation myself. At the time I had a lot of sympathy with India and others: why should they renounce nukes when those who had them didn’t practise what they preached? They were supposed to reduce their stockpiles, but they didn’t. I’ve been cynical about the whole Iran brouhaha as well. I wouldn’t like to see nukes in such hands but after all, the only power that has actually used them so far is the US.
   So I honour Barack Obama, a US president who has finally had the guts and the rectitude to get the action going again – and is being reviled for it by many of his own people in terms that are hard to believe.
3. USA / Jeff says:

   15 April, 2010 at 2:10 PM

   LOL, so right winger jibberish that is so loud in USA, can be heard all the way to South Africa!

   We point out often on here how politics in the US is very divided and there is a basically radicalized right wing that also has control of most of the major media. So, the noise against Obama usually doesn’t equate to more than a loud minority. US Republicans have lost in the last 2 election cycles and again just last month with their opposing health insurance coverage for all USA citizens. (which was also hard to believe)

   Antother thing is Americans have the worst time of grasping how the nuclear weapons issue can look to others in the world. You are totally correct that USA is the only nation to use a nuke. The big point is dealing with the reality now of the spread of the technology, and having a balance in that I think. Bush would never acknowledge that Iran has every right to develop for nuclear reactors for electricity. Obama just did in this summit, and has already in the past.
4. UK / Martin says:

   19 April, 2010 at 1:50 PM

   The very next step in this endeavour is the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review, scheduled in May. The NPT is truly where the progress is to be had, as it has been a worthy effort to this point but hardly realised in full. Some signatories such as Iran have failed to honour it, whilst others will not come aboard:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty
5. Canada / Pat Morin says:

   27 April, 2010 at 1:48 PM

   Obama certainly is covering a lot of ground in office reversing the incredible mistakes, and wrong policy stances of the last U.S. administration.

   It’ll be interesting to see this NPT review how it unfolds. There would seem to be a lot more consensus among countries on this than on reducing carbon emissions. I don’t think there is much hope on that front; not with China, India, the U.S. and Canada all putting up obstacles.