Re-examining 2009, or: Will 2010 Be the Year?

It's a week past January 1st, and it has been a while since I last wrote, but the holiday season has certainly taken me away from the keyboard.

I feel it would be appropriate to examine the nuclear-related highlights of the last year. 2009 has been momentous, with a US President truly committed to the elimination of nuclear weapons. Much has happened, and I'll try to cover all the major developments on the nuclear front. If I leave anything out, please do jump in with a comment and add to the litany.

• January 20: President Barack Obama is sworn into the White House. In his inaugural speech, he affirms his commitment to "rolling back the nuclear threat."
• April 4: Just one day before Obama's historic Prague speech, North Korea launches a missile from its Tonghae Launching Ground. Initial reports from DPRK declare it a success, although later analysis from outside North Korea concludes that the test was largely a failure.
• April 5: While visiting Poland and the Czech Republic to revise plans for a land-based US missile defense system in the region, President Obama makes a compelling case for US leadership in eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide. He says, "As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it, we can start it."
• May 25: North Korea successfully conducts an underground nuclear weapon test, which is widely condemned almost immediately by the international community.
• July 6: Presidents Obama and Medvedev meet in Moscow to discuss replacement of the 1991 START treaty, which is set to expire in December 2009.
• July 15: The Pelindaba Treaty enters into force, effectively making the entire Southern Hemisphere a nuclear weapons-free zone.
• August 6: 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima.
• August 9: 64th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki.
• September 24: At the annual UN General Assembly this year, the US is given the rotating presidency, which allows President Obama to chair the Security Council session. The outcome of the session is SC1887, in which the SC reaffirms its commitment to nonproliferation and disarmament.
• September 25: The very next day, at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, President Obama, French President Sarkozy and UK Prime Minister Brown reveal details of Iran's heretofore secret operation in the mountains of Qom, and rally the international community to condemn Tehran's attempts to build an additional nuclear processing plant. In the ensuing fallout, Iran, Russia and the US go back and forth in agreeing to the terms of a deal in which Iran would export its existing uranium supply for enrichment in civilian power plants, and then receive it back.
• October 9: The Norwegian Nobel Committee announces that President Obama will be awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. In an official statement, the Committee explains that Obama has been awarded the prize in part for his "vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons."
• November 2: North Korea test-launches five short-range missiles, perhaps again to demonstrate its strike capabilities.
• December 10: President Obama is formally awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Norway. In his remarks, President Obama notes that an urgent action item is "to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and to seek a world without them."

So with a very important Nuclear Posture Review coming up in March, as well as the every-five-years Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference a couple of months later, along with what we hope is an updated treaty to the expired START I between the US and Russia, 2010 has the potential to really reverse decades of flawed deterrence policies and make significant progress towards Global Zero.

Here's to hoping!