Another Obama Milestone: Nuclear Security Summit with 47 World Leaders

Today President Obama will welcome the leaders of 47 governments to his Nuclear Security Summit.  It will be another milestone in the President’s efforts to establish America’s role in the world and the largest gathering of world leader since 1945. He calls it the "single biggest threat to U.S. security" and is looking for cooperation from the rest of the world in arresting the development of improper use of nuclear energy and to rid the country of nuclear weapons. His primary concern is that some terrorist group like al-Qaida "could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come."

On Sunday,  spoke to individual leaders such as  Chinese president Hu Jintao. regarding nuclear materials as well as  including Iran, trade, and the U.S.-Chinese currency dispute,
King Abdullah II of Jordan, regarding the Middle East peace process and  India and Pakistan as well as several others.  Following these meeting he said "I feel very good at this stage in the degree of commitment and a sense of urgency that I have seen from the world leaders so far on this issue," Obama said. "We think we can make enormous progress on this, and this then becomes part and parcel of the broader focus that we've had over the last several weeks."

Last week the president approved a new nuclear policy for the United States.  He pledged to decrease America's nuclear collection, desist from nuclear tests and will not use nuclear weapons against countries without such weapons. It is noted that North Korea and Iran were not part of the promise as they have failed to cooperate with other countries on nonproliferation principles.

In a recent interview on ABC's "Good Morning America " Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev  the President of the Russian Federation also opined  that Iran's nuclear agenda requires close monitoring.  Support from the Russian and Chinese leaders would be imperative if any sanctions against Iran is to be imposed.