THE NEW START TREATY

News: START- Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. It refers to a series of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between the United States and Russia (earlier USSR) aimed at reducing strategic nuclear weapons, not just limiting them.

Evolution timeline

• START-I (1991)
  • Signed between US & USSR
  • Entered into force in 1994
  • First treaty to actually reduce nuclear weapons
• Replaced by Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT)
• Followed by New START Treaty
  • Signed: 2010
  • Entered into force: 2011

Extension

• New START: Extended in 2021 till 2026 à The last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia

Suspension

• In 2023: Russia suspended participation, Context: Ukraine war
• Consequences: Halt of on-site inspections, suspension of data sharing, treaty exists legally, but not operationally

Nature of weapons regulated

• Strategic (long-range) nuclear weapons. These weapons are meant to:
  • Destroy command centres
  • Target critical infrastructure
  • Decide the outcome of a war

Global implications of New START’s lapse

• Makes it harder to: Bring China into arms control, build multilateral nuclear restraint
• Weakens: Global non-proliferation regime, norms against nuclear arms race
• Signals a shift from: Arms control → power-based deterrence