ABSTRACT
The Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty, which the US, China and some other nuclear powers have not ratified but all observe, could be completely disavowed by Washington in the near future. New START is up against a hard deadline, and the top priority should be to get it extended. Equally urgent is the need to address strategic arms-control issues in the remaining months before the expiration of New START in February 2021. In parallel to discussing a multilateral agreement, Moscow and Washington should proceed with negotiating a bilateral deal as a New START follow-on. Sea- and air-based disposable uninhabited long-range weapons systems, including those equipped with artificial intelligence, should be controlled like all strategic weapons: according to the class of delivery vehicle and maximum tested range, rather than their guidance systems. Traditionally, nuclear arms control has been based on a bipolar world order and a rough balance of power between Soviet military forces and those of the United States and its allies.
