"Atomic Echoes"

The estimable Joseph Cirincione makes the case for a more ambitious non-proliferation policy:

There is now a flurry of efforts crossing party and ideological lines to reduce the number of nuclear weapons and the number of nations that have nuclear weapons. Most prominent is the appeal this January from Democrats William Perry and Sam Nunn and Republicans George Schultz and Henry Kissinger for “a world free of nuclear weapons.” These veteran cold warriors strongly supported the nuclear build-ups of the past. Now, their action plan includes many of the elements of the early Truman era: deep cuts in existing arsenals, a global ban on nuclear tests, a halt in production of new weapon materials, and international control of the entire uranium enrichment process, including the formation of an international fuel bank for nuclear reactors. Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed ElBaradei urges similar steps, as do projects from a dozen research institutes. And some members of Congress and presidential contenders have picked up parts of these proposals.

He says the country's political leadership should pick up on these cues and show some international leadership. I should add that while I wouldn't want to call Cirincione deeply unserious, that along with mocking Very Serious People in the national security world it would do this blog good to point out some good ones, and Cirincione's on that list.