Obama and the Bomb

New START, Russia and the Politics of Post-Cold War Arms Control

Frank Leith Jones

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9783032025715
• eBook ISBN:
  9783032025722
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: American Government
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book is the first study of how President Barack Obama and his administration used the negotiation and ratification of an arms control treaty, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), as a vehicle for advancing one of the president’s primary foreign policy objectives, a reset of US relations with Russia in the early years of his first term of office.  It is a study of the administration’s efforts to move from a president’s strategic vision to defining that vision as a policy priority and ultimately, successfully negotiating what the president deemed the first and most important element of the reset agenda.

Table of contents

• Obama and the Bomb
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Contents
• About the Author
• 1. Introduction
• 2. “A Bold and Overarching Vision”: Obama’s Arms Control Vision
• 3. Resetting a Relationship: Toward a New Russia Policy
• 4. Getting Started: Framing the Negotiation Agenda
• 5. Touching Noses and Talking Frankly: Initial Meetings
• 6. A Process Now in Play: Negotiations Begin in Earnest
• 7. Contending Concerns: Arms Control and an Aging Nuclear Arsenal
• 8. Time Has a Price: Negotiations Bog Down
• 9. New Obstacles: Political and Military Leaders Intercede
• 10. Success at Last: Negotiations Profitably Concluded
• 11. Great Expectations: Treaty Signing and Public Outreach
• 12. The Ratification Battle Begins: Senate Hearings and Concerns
• 13. The Next Push: Convincing Uncertain Senators
• 14. The Ayes Have It: Final Tradeoffs and Political Victory
• 15. The Four Factors: Elements That Led to Success
• 16. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index