Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) on April 8, an agreement that will reduce U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear forces to their lowest levels in some 40 years. Senate committees began reviewing the treaty in May, moving toward an ultimate decision on consent to ratification. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to vote on the treaty in the coming weeks.
On July 23, the Arms Control Initiative at Brookings and the Arms Control Association hosted former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft for a discussion of the New START treaty, assessing how its ratification and implementation will serve the U.S. national interest. Brookings President Strobe Talbott provided an introduction, followed by remarks from General Scowcroft. Morton Halperin of the Open Society Institute, Angela Stent of Georgetown University and Brookings and Senior Fellow Steven Pifer, director of the Arms Control Initiative at Brookings, joined the discussion. Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association moderated.