Communications & Clarity of Purpose: Nuclear Treaty a Remarkable Achievement

President Obama has signed a treaty with Moscow to reduce nuclear weapons, and has made ridding the world of nuclear weapons a priority in his administration. Whether the world can honestly be rid of these fearsome weapons, now that the knowledge of how to make and use them has been a reality for decades, is debatable. What is clear, however, is that the priority to improve communications with the world about the complex nuclear threat, and the political will to address and reduce the arsenal (and loose nukes), is a stunning and important development.

The improved clarity and political environment regarding nuclear weapons is an achievement as strong as the goal of improving health care in the United States. While threats that can be catastrophic tend to be exaggerated in people's minds when compared to small, more incremental gains on a day-to-day basis, the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the deep distrust that have surrounded the threat of nuclear war are reminders that we still need to prepare for, and mitigate, harm.

Anyone who has visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum would doubtless agree. The Museum website may be found at http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp/index_e2.html.

For more on the topic of nuclear weapons and the latest political changes, see

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/atomic_weapons/index.html.