General Studies Paper 2

• Context: The Russian President announced to suspension of its participation in the last remaining major military agreement with the US –New START.
• The original Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty/START-I was signed between the US and the erstwhile USSR in 1991and came into force in 1994.
• START-I,which capped the number of nuclear warheads (to 6,000) and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs to 1,600), lapsed in 2009.
• This was replaced first by the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT)/the Treaty of Moscow and then by the New START treaty.

What is the New START?

• Officially, the Treaty between the USA and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, entered into force on February 5,
• It placed new verifiable limits (to be met by 2018)on intercontinental-range nuclear weapons. For example, 700 deployed ICBMs, deployed SLBMs (submarine-launched) and deployed heavy bombers equipped for nuclear armaments, etc.
• The US and Russian Federation subsequently agreed to extend the treaty through February 4, 2026.
• How is compliance with the treaty ensured?The two parties have conducted on-site inspections, exchanged notifications, held meetings with the Bilateral Consultative Commission, and held data exchanges.

What is the latest situation on compliance?

• US: Russia was not complying with the New START, jeopardising a source of stability in their relationship.
• Russia:The USA’s goal is Russia’s strategic defeat, and for Russia the “theatre of the absurd” (the idea of existentialism) is important.

Conclusion:

• Over the decades, the two sides signed various arms control agreements, imposing breaks on the nuclear arms race – an alarming feature of the Cold War competition.
• However, deep fissures in their relationship and the suspension of almost all the treaties in recent years, have once again raised the risk of a nuclear arms race