Russia and the United States have signed a new strategic nuclear-arms reduction treaty. Officially, the treaty cuts their weapons by one-third. In reality, each party will decommission only several dozen.

Nevertheless, the treaty is a considerable achievement. It normalizes political relations between the two countries, thereby facilitating their further cooperation and rapprochement.

The return of strategic nuclear weapons to the center of world politics increases Russia's political weight and highlights the field in which it can still assert itself as a superpower. It also gives a political boost to Barack Obama, cast as the most constructive and progressive US president for decades, and possibly for many years to come.