New START: Increasing the Risk of Nuclear War

Baker Spring / August 11, 2010

According to the translation of an article appearing in the Russian newspaper Suvorovskiy Natisk on July 17, the Vostok 2010 Russian military exercise concluded with a simulated a low-yield nuclear strike. This simulated strike is consistent with the Russian policy of considering the use of non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons in regional conflicts where up to that point only conventional weapons would be used.

As the United States Senate is in the midst of considering the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) arms control agreement with Russia, the Senate should understand the important linkage between the Vostok exercise and New START in the minds of the Russian leadership. According to unclassified sources, the Russians have a many-fold advantage in tactical nuclear weapons over the U.S. The Russian government wants to use this advantage to intimidate its neighbors in Eastern Europe, including those that are NATO allies of the U.S. Specifically, Moscow sees this as forcing the U.S. to recognize Russia’s exclusive sphere of influence in this region and to weaken its security commitments to its allies. (more…)