Obama Ushers In New Deal For Worldwide Arms Control

摘要

This week more than 100 countries are signing a treaty banning cluster bombs, which accidentally harm thousands of civilians. The UK and most of its allies will be there. The US will not.rnBut the US government's decade-long hostility to international arms control is poised to change. President-ElectBarack Obama favours international arms control. He sees nuclear proliferation as the "gravest threat" and wants a summit on nuclearterrorism and new arms control measures, including treaties limiting anti-satelliternweapons and fissile material.rn"Everyone who is serious about arms control is still celebrating Obama's win," says Joe Cirincione, head of the Ploughshares Fund, an anti-nuclear foundation in Washington DC. But, as he told New Scientist, Obama will have to move fast to repair the damage done to arms control during the Bush era.