Leaders of 47 Nations Gather for Washington Summit on Nuclear Weapons

Leaders of nearly 50 countries gathered in Washington on Monday to discuss the threat nuclear weapons could pose to global security. The summit comes just after President Obama signed a treaty with Russia last week in which both nations agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals. On Sunday, Obama met with leaders of Pakistan and India, the two nations seen as most likely to significantly expand their production of weapons-grade nuclear material.

The summit is the largest gathering of leaders convened by an American president since Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the 1945 meeting that led to the creation of the United Nations, the New York Times reports. This one has a far less ambitious agenda, which does not even include addressing nuclear production in India and Pakistan. Obama's summit will focus on securing existing stockpiles of bomb-ready plutonium and enriched uranium.

As the president prepared for the summit, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit many of the Sunday talk shows, hoping to assure Americans that the new disarmament treaty with Russia will not undermine U.S. security.

"We will always protect the United States, our partners and allies around the world," Clinton said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Our nuclear deterrent will remain secure, safe and effective in doing so. But we also think we will ultimately be safer if we can introduce the idea that the United States is willing to enter into arms treaties with Russia to reduce our respective nuclear arsenals and that we're going to stand against nonproliferation in a way that will perhaps deter others from acquiring nuclear weapons."