1. There has been an important recent shift in American discussions about nuclear policy, away from an exclusive emphasis on stopping other states from acquiring nuclear weapons to a focus on the creation a new nuclear order in which all the nuclear powers to move to eliminate nuclear weapons. Nuclear disarmament has moved to the center of the policy debate alongside nuclear nonproliferation..
2. Those who advocate the elimination of nuclear weapons argue that nuclear nonproliferation has to be accompanied by nuclear disarmament. A nuclear order based on discrimination – with some countries possessing nuclear weapons and others denied the right to have them – will not work over the long term. It will not be legitimate in the eyes even of those states that do not wish to have nuclear weapons. They may be less willing to sustain and enforce a discriminatory nuclear regime than a regime in which nuclear weapons are prohibited altogether.
3.  The United States and Russia possess about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. Cooperation between them is therefore vital if the world is to move toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. Only if the two countries can agree on a vision of a shared future will it be possible to take the first steps on the path toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. Relations between the two countries are, however, at a low point, with signs that we are on the verge of a nuclear arms race. The US-Russian relationship needs therefore to be put on a new footing. The goal of nuclear disarmament could form the basis for a security dialogue.