You may have noticed that President Obama is not a fan of nuclear weapons. At a speech in Prague this past April he called for their abolition. He has been working with Russia to reduce the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons and launchers. And he has also been trying to prevent Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons of their own.

Today marked another indication that nuclear nonproliferation is a huge priority of the Obama administration when the president called a summit meeting of the United Nations Security Council and became the first U.S. head of state to ever chair the body. It was also only the fifth time the Security Council has met at the head of state level since its formation in 1946. The first was held in 1992 to discuss the dissolution of the former Soviet Union.

Can you guess what the topic was today?

What President Obama and the other heads of state achieved from this summit was the first U.N. Security Council resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons and which sets out a broad framework on how to reduce nuclear dangers in pursuit of that goal.

The spread and use of nuclear weapons is a “fundamental threat to the security of all peoples and all nations,” Obama said. If one nuclear weapon exploded in a major world city, it would kill thousands, and “it would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life.”

The president said every country has the right to peaceful nuclear energy, but those which already have nuclear weapons “have the responsibility to move toward disarmament,” and those who don’t “have the responsibility to forsake them.”

What do you think? Is a world without nuclear weapons achievable? How can this goal become a reality?

President Obama and other world leaders have been crafting agreements at the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy. One the White House is particularly excited about is a strategy for reducing and securing nuclear weapons. As he said in Prague last April, President Obama seeks a world without nuclear weapons, and earlier this week reached an agreement with Russia on weapons.

The G8 statement “calls on all states to meet in full their arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation commitments.”

G8 leaders also issued a statement on climate change.

A list of G8 agreements, declarations and statements is available on the White House Web site.

In Moscow yesterday, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a preliminary agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals.

Under what is called a joint understanding, the United States and Russia will reduce their numbers of strategic warheads from a maximum of 2,200 to a range of 1,500–1,675, and their strategic delivery vehicles from a maximum of 1,600 to a range of 500–1,100. President Obama said he hopes further reductions will be made by both nations.

For more, see “Russia, U.S. Seek to Lead Nonproliferation Efforts by Example.”

As are people around the world, members of the Obama administration are closely watching news from Iran, following June 12’s disputed presidential election.

“Like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a press statement June 13. “We continue to monitor the entire situation closely.”

“We don’t have enough facts to make a firm judgment” of the election in Iran, Vice President Biden said June 14. “The hope is that the Iranian people, all their votes have been counted, they’ve been counted fairly,” Biden said, adding that the United States seeks better analysis of the results.

No matter the election’s result, Biden said, the United States interests are the same: for Iran to stop seeking nuclear weapons and to stop supporting terrorists.

In his speech at Cairo University, President Obama said that in today’s interconnected world, “any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail.” Instead, nations need to work in partnership so that our “progress must be shared.”
The president outlined seven issues “we must finally confront together.” Here is what they are and a brief comment the president made about each one:

1. Violent extremism: “America is not – and never will be – at war with Islam. … We reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women and children.”

2. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “If we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.”

3. Securing nuclear weapons: “This is not simply about America’s interests. It’s about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path.”

4. Democracy: “No system of government can or should be imposed by one nation by any other. That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people.”

5. Religious freedom: “Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it.”

6. Women’s rights: “Issues of women’s equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam … the struggle for women’s equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world.”

7. Economic development and opportunity: “There need not be contradictions between development and tradition.”

A summary and full transcript of the president’s speech is available on America.gov.

President Obama had harsh words for North Korea, following its May 25 announcement that it conducted a nuclear test.

North Korea’s actions, President Obama said in a statement, “are a matter of grave concern to all nations. North Korea’s attempts to develop nuclear weapons, as well as its ballistic missile program, constitute a threat to international peace and security.”

By defying the United Nations Security Council, Obama said, North Korea “is directly and recklessly challenging the international community. North Korea’s behavior increases tensions and undermines stability in Northeast Asia.”