Last Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the implementation of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), seeking to gauge the treaty's performance in the time since February 2011, when it first came into effect. Witnesses brought before the committee included the Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Thomas P. D'Agostino; the Acting Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the State Department, Rose Gottemoeller; and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs,  Madelyn R. Creedon.

Each of the witnesses offered positive assessments of New START's effectiveness, highlighting the ways in which the agreement has helped to make nuclear relations between the US and Russia more stable and transparent. In her testimony, Gottemoeller remarked that New START has helped to improve the flow of nuclear weapons-related information between the two countries. In particular, she cited the treaty's verification mechanisms, including exhibitions of strategic arms and guaranteed on-site inspections, as concrete examples of provisions that have helped to improve the aforementioned information flow.

Modern tension on the Korean Peninsula dates back to 1945 when the Soviet Union declared war on the current occupiers, Japan.  In years prior, the peninsula had been controlled by a series of dynasties, but was invaded and annexed by Japan in 1910.  After the end of World War II in 1945, the territory was divided along the 38th parallel between the United States and Soviet Union.  Hope for unification faded in June 1950 when North Korea breached the border leading to the outbreak of the Korean War. After three years of intense fighting between American, Chinese, Soviet, and Korean troops, the war officially concluded with the formalization of a interstate border called the demilitarized zone.  However, low-level fighting and frequent rhetorical provocations keep the conflict on the radar of many relevant states.

In the past, North and South Korea marched together in the Olympics on three separate occasions: 2000 in Sydney, 2004 in Athens, and 2006 in Turin. Describing the event as "highly emotional," athletes from North and South Korea travelled to the stadium together and marched in the opening ceremonies as one unified entity. Using the flag of the Korean Peninsula, a simple flag with a blue silhouette of the Korean Peninsula and a white background, the group showed one of the very few instances of Korean bilateralism in the last few decades.

Last October, President Obama announced the deployment of 100 United States military advisors to Central Africa.  Obama hoped to combat the remaining Lord Resistance Army forces that have committed atrocities throughout the region, primarily in northern Uganda, for the past twenty-five years.  The year prior, a billed called  the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act bolstered "comprehensive U.S. efforts to help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability."  Moreover, a viral video launched by the US-based advocacy group Invisible Children last March briefly made the fight against the LRA a national conversation, but attention has since returned to anemically low-levels.

Last week, the Fifth Committee Peacekeeping Budget, effective from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, was passed. Along with monetary shifting and restructuring of peacekeeping staff, the new mandate reiterates important stances on human rights preservations where missions are present. As the peacekeeping structure in the UN continues to evolve and shift into a more effective system, we have to stay focused on the imperative nature and continual support of peacekeeping missions around the world.

With more effective management, the UN was able to cut roughly $537 million from their budget. In a statement released today by U.N. Ambassador Joseph Torsella, the new focus of funds, "shifts resources from overhead to operations." While the implementation of more effective appropriations of funds and management is a great step towards the future of UN peacekeeping, it is also important to recognize the need for increased funding elsewhere in the peacekeeping budget. Dr. Paul Williams of George Washington University spoke of the need to increase funding for different supplies for peacekeeping missions, including the need for 17 more helicopters to transport troops and civilians around rough terrain yesterday at an event sponsored by Citizens for Global Solutions on the Hill.