At a recent international conference, a colleague asked, somewhat irreverently (but not irrelevantly), "Now that Obama has been re-elected, will he finally earn his Nobel Prize?"
It's a fair question. Hopes were high in the international disarmament community after President Barack Obama's 2009 Prague speech when he pledged to move toward a nuclear weapons-free world. But those who cheered the loudest then are among the most disappointed now, frustrated over the slow progress toward this goal.
To be fair, some important steps forward were taken. The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) focused on "Reducing the Role of U.S. Nuclear Weapons" while stating the objective of making deterrence of nuclear attack "the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons." While this fell far short of a "no first use" pledge, it was a significant step in that direction. The NPR also states unequivocally that the United States will not develop new nuclear warheads. Obama also achieved ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ("New START") with Russia, which reduced both nations' nuclear weapons inventories.