Could 2010 finally be the year for a breakthrough in the world’s most intractable arms control problem: the elimination of nuclear weapons? There have certainly been important positive developments, most notably willingness by the United States to re-engage in multilateral diplomacy and to entertain the idea of a world free of nuclear weapons as a realistic – rather than rhetorical – goal.Just last week, the two superpowers, US and Russia, agreed on a new strategic nuclear weapons treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, or Start. It will require the two countries to cut long-range warheads from the current tally of 2,200 to 1,550; launchers from 1,600 to 800; and cap at 700 each the number of nuclear-armed missiles and bombers.

The drive for a total ban on the testing of nuclear weapons should get a long-awaited kick-start tomorrow when the parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty hold a high-level conference to promote the entry into force of the treaty.