U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and top U.S. security officials testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today to push for the ratification of the new START arms reduction treaty with Russia.

Senator John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Richard Lugar, ranking Republican member, will open hearings this week on the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty.

The proposed U.S.-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty will enhance U.S. security and diplomatic credibility, and won’t compromise U.S. nuclear force levels or undermine its missile defense, top U.S. officials said Tuesday as they urged the Senate to ratify the pact.

I first began working on strategic arms control with the Russians in 1970, an effort that led to the first Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement with Moscow two years later.

The treaty restrains neither our program for missile defense of the U.S. (at bases in California and Alaska) nor the new phased adaptive approach for missile defense in Europe.

Henry Kissinger is a former US secretary of State. He spoke with Global Viewpoint Network editor Nathan Gardels about President Obama’s nuclear policies, how to deal with China, and the new alliance of BRIC countries.

The release last week of the Obama administration’s Nuclear Posture Review brings long overdue attention to the vital issue of U.S. strategic posture. Issues raised in the NPR and START have reinvigorated a crucial national nuclear dialogue that has been missing.

THIS has been a remarkable time for the Obama administration. After a year of intense internal debate, it issued a new nuclear strategy. And after a year of intense negotiations with the Russians, President Obama signed the New Start treaty with President Dmitri Medvedev in Prague.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev posed for the cameras in Prague on Thursday before solemnly signing a treaty to reduce by 30 percent their number of active strategic nuclear weapons. Americans over 40 can be excused for recalling Yogi Berra’s line about deja vu all over again.

The administration’s Nuclear Posture Review outlines the means to achieve greater security from worldwide nuclear dangers. Nonproliferation and counter-terrorism are central to the strategy.