Out of Armageddon
The welcome thaw in American-Russian relations has brought back, temporarily at least, the prospect of a world free of nuclear weapons. The US and Russian presidents agreed in London to reduce their nuclear arsenals and committed themselves 'to achieving a nuclear-free world'. Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev succeeded in reining in their respective countries, which were heading towards a new cold war. In a joint statement, they reaffirmed that 'the era when our countries viewed each other as enemies is long over' and recognised that they now have 'many common interests'.
It is a turning point in the relationship. Even before the summit, Russia had agreed to allow the US to transit Russian territory and airspace to transport military cargo to Afghanistan since Pakistan's co-operation cannot be taken for granted.
Significantly, the joint statement issued after the summit meeting reported that the two countries will work together on Afghanistan since 'al-Qaeda and other terrorist and insurgent groups operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan pose a common threat to many countries, including the United States and Russia'.
Of course, problems remain in the relationship over such issues as Nato expansion and missile defence. But the Obama administration is likely to be much more sensitive to Moscow's feelings than its predecessor. Indeed, expanding Nato to Russia's borders will be seen by any government in Moscow as provocative.
Moreover, the missile defence system being pushed under the Bush administration ostensibly had Iran, not Russia, in mind. So, if Russia successfully helps the US to persuade Iran not to seek nuclear weapons, there would no longer be a reason to deploy an expensive and possibly ineffective missile shield.
The Obama-Medvedev meeting took place on the same day as Mr Obama met President Hu Jintao, and underlines the importance of good relations among the world's leading powers. Talk of a G2 involving only the US and China is impractical and silly. Since the US and Russia account for more than 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons, it is natural that additional arms reductions begin with those two countries. Eventually, however, China, France and Britain, each with several hundred nuclear weapons in their arsenals, will have to join in.
Last October, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for nuclear disarmament and urged the permanent members of the Security Council - which also happen to be the five recognised nuclear states - to assure non-nuclear states that they 'will not be the subject of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons'.
This proposal has also been made by China, which has urged all nuclear states to pledge not to be the first to use such weapons. For its part, China has unilaterally made a no-first-use pledge against any other state.
It is doubtful whether the world can ever be free of nuclear weapons, or even if that is desirable. After all, knowledge of how to make them is now widely available and, even if existing nuclear weapons are destroyed, there is no way to stop some country or other from trying to acquire them. And then, the nuclear arms race will resume.
A world where every country knows that it will be committing national suicide if it becomes the first to use nuclear weapons may be much safer than one in which no one knows who may be acquiring a bomb or two surreptitiously, and then be in a position to threaten other countries with their use.
But, without ruling out the possibility of a nuclear-free world, it would certainly help if all nuclear powers pledge never to use their weapons against non-nuclear states and never to be the first to use such weapons. Such pledges should make the world a safer place.
Meanwhile, it is good that Washington and Moscow have committed themselves to negotiate a new strategic arms-reduction treaty and to have it in place by December. The main opposition to such a treaty is likely to be within the US Congress itself, and Mr Obama will have his work cut out.
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer and commentator
