They include the conclusion of the US-Russia new START treaty, which would reduce deployed strategic weapons; some modest limitations on the role of nuclear weapons in US nuclear doctrine; a Washington summit that reached useful agreement on the implementation of improved nuclear-security measures; and hard-to-achieve consensus at the recently concluded pentannual Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference on useful steps forward, including a 2012 conference on achieving a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.