Last weekend's speech by President Barack Obama, embracing the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons, reflects a developing view around the world that the time is ripe to revive what has in the past been considered a utopian dream. We are now a long way from the massive arsenals of the cold war, and the Americans and Russians are about to embark on a new round of talks that could see arsenals reduced to at most 1,500 warheads each and possibly lower. Yet the move towards zero is by no means free of risk. The problem is less the ultimate goal, and whether it could be properly verified, but the transition period, which we have already entered. This new nuclear age involves issues and perils quite different from those of the cold war.
4月5日，美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)发表讲话，提出要消除所有的核武器。这反映出一个观点正在全世界日益形成，即唤醒过去的乌托邦梦想的时机已经成熟。我们如今已经远离冷战时大规模武库的时代，美国人和俄罗斯人即将开启新一轮会谈，可能会将各自拥有的核武器弹头数量削减至1500枚，甚至更少。不过将核武器数量削减至零的做法绝不是没有风险的。问题不在于最终目标及其能否得到准确核实，而在于我们已经进入的过渡期。这个新核武器时代涉及的问题和危险与冷战时期截然不同。