Verification on the Road to Zero:Issues for Nuclear Warhead Dismantlement

摘要

In many respects, the "verification" associated with reductions in U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons until now has been for practice. The size of the total arsenals that remained provided a powerful hedge against the imperfections of confidence-building measures. Warheads themselves have been addressed only in the margins; delivery systems have been the preferred treaty-limited items. It remains to be seen if policymakers of both countries continue to skirt the technical issues necessary to confirm irreversible deep reductions in the numbers of warheads, reductions focused on a vision of "global zero" (worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons) that if co-opted by one party or the other could dangerously affect the balance of power.