Nuclear Arms Reduction: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

On June 16, US president Joe Biden and Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a Joint Statement on Strategic Stability, in which they "reaffirm the principle that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought" and "seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures."

With the extension of the New START treaty and joint statements like that, it might seem that things aren't looking too terribly bad with respect to reducing the threat of nuclear war. But talk and action are two very different things. Let's roll back the calendar to the day before the rose-colo...