Countdown to global zero – on hold?

Abstract

Two-and-a-half years after US President Barack Obama made a speech in Prague outlining his commitment to nuclear disarmament, many have been disappointed by the subsequent slow progress on the issue. A new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty had a difficult passage through Congress during 2010 (despite the treaty's modest ambitions); the United States has not significantly changed its nuclear deterrence doctrine nor ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; and Pakistan has blocked an envisaged Fissile-Material Cut-off Treaty. Although the so-called Prague agenda was cautious from the outset, it has been slower than envisioned.