Pacem In Terris

Not since Pope John XXIII issued his landmark encyclical on the subject of world peace, Pacem in Terris, forty-seven years ago this month have the need for a better understanding and more negotiation between nations and the dignity of all humankind been so relevant in light of President Obama's nuclear weaponry summit in Washington. Obama and the leaders of 46 other countries reached wide-reaching agreements on the need to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and the goal of reducing and eliminating the national stockpiles of nuclear material. Mexico and Ukraine have agreed to slash production of high-enriched uranium, and Russia has pledged to close a plutonium-processing factory. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has proposed an international effort to crack down on elicit uranium trafficking, thought he has not committed to reducing the French nuclear arsenal any further.

The Summit on Nuclear Security has been a success for Obama because he has put the United States in a constructive partnership with containing nuclear proliferation and keeping such weapons out of the hands of terrorists, he has formed a greater consensus on pressuring Iran for its own nuclear weapon program, and he got commitments from various nations on further cooperation. Obama clearly wants to change the trajectory of American foreign policy that recognizes its limitations as a major power and seeks a leadership role among, rather than in opposition to, other countries. Because al-Qaeda and state-sponsored terrorism have been at the crux of these agreements, it should be hard for the Republicans to find any flaws in Obama's approach, and I don't really expect them to.