Arms Control Expert: U.S. Can Risk ‘Deeper Cuts’ in Nuclear Arsenal

The United States should unilaterally cut down on its nuclear arsenal without fear of Russia’s nuclear modernization program, according to Greg Thielmann, Senior Fellow at the Arms Control Association. "I also disagree with those . . . who say we cannot now risk much deeper cuts in our current nuclear arsenals," Thielmann said yesterday at the Hoover Institution. Speaking to NS&D Monitor after the panel, Thielmann recalled President Obama’s 2013 remarks in Berlin, where he said that "we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one-third" beyond New START Treaty levels. According to Thielmann, "that was really an extraordinary statement" because it implied "that no matter what the Russians do, there’s a certain number of operationally deployed warheads above which additional warheads have no utility." In addition to asking Russia "to join in a negotiated lowering of the limits," Thielmann said the United States could "unilaterally remove some of our weapons to get down to the lower level the Russians are at right now" and "put the onus on them to raise the numbers."

Thielmann said many of the ongoing warnings about Russia’s nuclear modernization program are "crazy talk" that "[feeds] into Putin’s narrative where he is mostly trying to convince his own people that he’s the tough guy and he’s not going to let Russia be pushed around." Thielmann said that the United States "should have had a big shrug of the shoulders" upon learning last month that Putin would add 40 new intercontinental ballistic missiles to Russia’s arsenal this year. "Russia is retiring dozens of potent but old missiles from the Cold War," Thielmann said, noting that this will lead to "no increase in their overall arsenal as a result of these 40 new missiles." He added that both the United States and Russia "are committed to the New START limits" despite the rhetoric, "so a lot of this is just hyperventilating unnecessarily."