The US and German Nuclear Non-Proliferation Quartets arrived at the American Academy in Berlin on the evening of February 3 for a historic discussion about the future of global nuclear-arms reduction. The American Quartet is comprised of the Hon. Henry A. Kissinger, former Secretary of State and founder, Kissinger Associates; Hon. Samuel A. Nunn, former US Senator (D-GA) and Co-Chairman, Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI); Hon. William J. Perry, former US Secretary of Defense and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; and the Hon. George P. Shultz, former US Secretary of State and Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution. Their German counterparts: The Hon. Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former Federal Foreign Minister; Hon. Helmut Schmidt, Co-Publisher of Die Zeit and former Federal Chancellor; Hon. Richard von Weizsäcker, former Federal President; and the Hon. Egon Bahr, former Federal Minister for Special Affairs. The evening, moderated by Stefan Kornelius, Foreign Policy Editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung, was cosponsored with NTI, a non-profit organization with a mission to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, and to work to build the trust, transparency, and security which are preconditions to the ultimate fulfillment of the Non-Proliferation Treaty’s goals and ambitions. NTI is co-chaired by Ted Turner and Sam Nunn.

John B. Bellinger III, former legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and a major instrument in bringing the United States into the international fold during the second Bush administration, is concerned with how the Obama administration has fared in the realm of international law after its first year: Has it kept the promises it made regarding closing Guantanamo and ending detentions? Has it moved closer to joining the International Criminal Court? Bellinger opened the evening talk – attended by a smattering of Berlin’s legal minds and diplomats – by noting that much credit due the second Bush administration has been overlooked: “How many international treaties were pushed through the Senate during the last two years of the Bush administration?” Bellinger asked. “Ninety.”