SFUMUN 2012

A Lopsided Nuclear Arms Treaty, And Missing Small Pox Virus; The Cold War Continues?

The recently ratified New START nuclear arms reduction treaty, requiring the United States and Russia to reduce their number of deployed strategic nuclear missiles to 1,550 has been hailed as one of the most successful nuclear arms reduction treaties in history. However, critics of the treaty including some democrats in the US House of Representatives, say that the treaty allows American arms developments to continue to an extent that undermines the effectiveness of the treaty, and shifts the balance of power to the United States. In order for the treaty to be ratified in the US House of Representatives, the US administration had agree to pursue the development of a multi-billion dollar Airborne Ballistic Missile (ABM) defense system, and agree to retrofit Americas existing nuclear weapons manufacturing facilities. ABM defense systems are something that both countries have long considered to be an offensive/aggressive development despite the name.
When the New York Times obtained a quote on these allegations from The Russian delegate to the UN Security Council, the delegate said that Russia was currently in talks with The US administration about the new ABM defense system spending, but had no further comment.
With the recent disappearance of a weaponized form of the small pox virus from a UN disposal facility for US and Russian stockpiles, new tension has been added to this situation. It is currently unknown who is in possession of this catastrophic weapon, but it is likely that the United States will at least consider the possibility that there may be some form of sanctioned, or unsanctioned Russian involvement considering the lab was located in Russia, and the lopsided nature of the New START treaty. When questioned if they were considering this, The US delegate to the Security Council said “we are very concerned about the situation, and urge Russia to be fully open about the results of this investigation “, but denied to comment any further.