SORT
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Image:Bush and Putin signing SORT.jpg
The Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions (SORT), better known as the Moscow Treaty, is a 2002 treaty between Russia and the United States limiting their nuclear arsenal to 1700-2200 operationally deployed warheads each. It was signed in Moscow on May 24, 2002. It is the latest in a long line of treaties and negotiations on mutual nuclear disarmament between Russia (and its predecessor the Soviet Union) and the United States, which includes SALT I (1969-1972), ABM Treaty (1972), SALT II (1972-1979), INF Treaty (1987), START I (1991) and START II (1993).
The Moscow Treaty diverges from START in two ways: First, it limits actual warheads, whereas START I limits warheads only through declared attribution to their means of delivery (ICBMs, SLBMs, and Heavy Bombers). Second, the Bush and Putin administration wrote the Moscow Treaty under a framework of greater trust, which the START I Treaty framers did not enjoy. As a result, the Moscow Treaty does not contain the strict verification and inspection regime as START I mandated.
Russian and U.S. delegations meet twice a year to discuss the implementation of the Moscow Treaty at the Bilateral Implementation Commission, or "BIC".
The treaty has been criticized for various reasons:
- There are no verification provisions.
- The reductions are not required to be permanent; warheads may be placed in storage and later redeployed.
- The reductions are required to be completed only by the time the treaty expires, namely December 31, 2012.
SORT, Arms Control, and the Bush Administration
The above criticisms are best viewed in conjunction with relevant circumstances surrounding the current administration. During the Cold War, it became clear to most people on both sides of the Iron Curtain that a continued arms race in an environment of brinkmanship would only lead to disaster; hence, arms control. Consequently, advances in arms control have become customary norms for leaders in both Washington and Moscow; the Moscow Treaty is apparently George W. Bush's contribution to the process.
In 2002, information was leaked from a classified document, the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which is required by law to assess the state of the current US nuclear arsenal, outline projections, and address policy. The leaked information showed an interest by the Bush administration to pursue a new nuclear triad consisting of new offensive nuclear strike systems, ballistic missile defenses, and a revitalized nuclear infrastructure.