U.S. President Barack Obama has committed his administration to the long-cherished dream of a world without nuclear weapons. In a landmark speech in Prague last weekend, Mr. Obama pledged that the United States would demonstrate "moral responsibility" and lead international efforts toward that goal. It will be a long and difficult task, not least because many believe such ambitions are naive and dangerous. Mr. Obama must not bow to that sentiment. Overcoming such deeply ingrained beliefs will require efforts by all nations. The key to realizing a world without nuclear weapons is ensuring stability by other means.
At the end of the Cold War there was a collective sigh of relief as the threat of mutually assured destruction dissipated. Many people anticipated the lifting of the nuclear shadow that had engulfed humankind. They were wrong. The prospect of superpower confrontation ended, but tens of thousands of warheads and thousands of tons of nuclear materials remained. As Mr. Obama noted, "in a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up." Nuclear technology and knowhow has spread and there are ample supplies of the materials that can be used to build bombs.
In his Prague speech, Mr. Obama was unequivocal: "I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." In concrete terms, that means that he will seek U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which was signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton but never passed the Senate; convene a summit to halt the spread of nuclear materials; develop a treaty that halts the production of fissile materials; and create an international nuclear fuel bank so countries can use nuclear technology for peaceful uses, as is their right. As a first step, the U.S. and Russia will begin negotiations on a new strategic arms reduction treaty and bring the other nuclear-weapon states into those talks.