Political Quotes

“the treaty we consider today, known officially as the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on strategic reductions, is truly remarkable in many respects. The treaty is, of course, remarkable because it encompasses the most dramatic reductions in strategic nuclear weapons ever envisioned between two nuclear powers. It is also worth noting that not since 1954 have the two parties held such a low number of strategic nuclear weapons as that which will be enforced by the agreed numerical limits of this treaty. Many have observed the extraordinary ease by which this treaty was negotiated and compare its three short pages--indeed, it is just three short pages--to the many thousands of pages of documents negotiated between the United States and the Soviet Union during the cold war. This last point is, for me, the most significant of all, for as important as the substance of this treaty is, it is the form--the trust between the United States and Russia--that most shines through. Perhaps this treaty should be known by the epitaph: 'Cold War RIP,' for it is not unreasonable to hope that this treaty represents and indeed reflects the close of a long era of hostility between these two nations.”