Arms Control Today articles from January 2005

Arms Control Today archives from January 2005

Editor's note.(Nonproliferation Treaty )(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... The nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) regime has been held together for nearly four decades by a central bargain between countries that have nuclear weapons and those that do not. In return for swearing off atomic weaponry,...

Nonproliferation through disarmament.(FOCUS)
January 1, 2005... Sixty years after the first atomic bombings, some 40 countries have the know-how to produce nuclear weapons. If it is true that the nuclear genie cannot be put back in the bottle, why aren't there dozens of nuclear-armed states? The...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)
January 1, 2005... "Lackluster disarmament by the nuclear-weapon states weakens the diplomatic force of the nonproliferation regime and thus its ability to constrain proliferation." Sixteen international experts, including Lieutenant General Brent...

Confrontation and retreat: the U.S. Congress and the South Asian nuclear tests.(Five Years Ago in ACT)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Congress appears to have little stomach for maintaining sanctions against India or Pakistan, either to punish them for their tests, to coerce them into reversing the direction of their nuclear programs, or more generally, to send a message to...

By the numbers.
January 1, 2005... Status of the Ottawa Convention Banning Anti-Personnel Landmines (APLs) 5 Number of years treaty has been in force 144 States-parties 126 States-parties that no longer possess stockpiled APLs 37 Million* ...

Missile Technology Control Regime.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Libya is seeking to join the 34-member Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), according to a Nov. 23 statement by Argentinean Ambassador Renato Carlos Sersale di Cerisano, who finished a one-year term as MTCR president in September 2004....

The Wassenaar Arrangement.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Meeting Dec. 8-9 in Vienna for its annual year-end plenary, the Wassenaar Arrangement accepted its first new member, Slovenia, since the conventional arms and dual-use goods export regime was established in 1996. The now 34-member regime also...

START I.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Department of State recently released the latest figures exchanged by Moscow and Washington on the countries' "accountable" strategic nuclear forces as defined by START I, which entered into force in December 1994. The United States...

Chemical Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)
January 1, 2005... The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held its Ninth Annual Conference of State Parties Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in The Hague. The meeting formally approved interim deadline extensions for Libya and Albania and repealed the...

Cooperative Threat Reduction.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The United States and Kazakhstan signed an amendment to a bilateral Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement on biological weapons Dec. 8, raising the level of funding allocated to those projects by roughly $35 million. The amendment will allow...

Ensuring America's Space Security.(Reports of Note)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... Ensuring America's Space Security By Leonard Weiss et al. Published by the Federation of American Scientists, October 2004. Some key military leaders have argued that the United States needs to develop space weapons to protect U.S....

Resuscitating the Bioweapons Ban: U.S. Industry Experts' Plans For Treaty Monitoring.(Reports of Note)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... Resuscitating the Bioweapons Ban: U.S. Industry Experts' Plans For Treaty Monitoring By Amy E. Smithson. Published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 2004. In 2001, U.S. officials walked away from efforts...

What's ahead: on the calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2005... Jan. 20 President George W. Bush's 2nd Inaugural. Washington, DC. Jan. 24-April 1 Conference on Disarmament, first session. Geneva, Switzerland. Jan. 26-30 Regional Meeting of the...

Disarmament: have the five nuclear powers done enough?(NPT 2005)
January 1, 2005... Article VI of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) calls on parties to the treaty to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race... and to nuclear disarmament." This article...

Superseding U.S.-Russian nuclear deterrence.(NPT 2005)
January 1, 2005... Over time and left unchecked, nuclear deterrence and proliferation are likely to follow Frederick Hegel's dialectical notion of history in which a historical development generates its opposite, or antithesis, and eventually both give way to a...

Caught in the middle: the United Kingdom and the 2005 NPT Review Conference.(NPT 2005)
January 1, 2005... Although it may feign confidence, the British government is viewing with trepidation the approach of the 2005 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. It is anxious about the treaty's health, even less able than usual to predict...

The 2005 NPT Review Conference: a French perspective.(NPT 2005)(Nonproliferation Treaty )
January 1, 2005... For France, the 2005 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will need first and foremost to confirm the credibility of the NPT as one of the main elements of international peace and security and to demonstrate the efficiency of...

China: a crucial bridge for the 2005 NPT Review Conference.(NPT 2005)(Nonproliferation Treaty)
January 1, 2005... China's unique nuclear philosophy, nuclear arsenal, and attitude toward nuclear nonproliferation mean that Beijing is likely to play a critical role at the 2005 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, serving as a vital bridge...

Can a fissile material cutoff treaty be effectively verified?(NPT 2005)
January 1, 2005... Capping the production of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium for nuclear weapons has long been a goal of the international nuclear nonproliferation agenda because it has been seen as putting a real-world limit on the potential for any...

Iran-EU nuclear negotiations begin.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
January 1, 2005... Foreign ministers from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom met Dec. 13 with Hassan Rowhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, to open negotiations toward a long-term resolution of concerns surrounding Tehran's nuclear...

U.S. imposes Iran-related sanctions.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
January 1, 2005... On Dec. 1, the United States sanctioned four Chinese entities and one North Korean company for allegedly shipping exports to Iran that could contribute to Tehran's suspected development of unconventional weapons. Levied under the Iran...

Missile defense fails test; System remains grounded.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2005... A long-range ballistic missile interceptor failed to get off the ground in a December test. So did President George W. Bush's plans to declare the initial elements of a U.S. anti-missile system operational by the end of last year. Bush...

Canada draws line on missile defense.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2005... During a recent visit to Canada, President George W. Bush lobbied the U.S. neighbor to collaborate in building missile defenses. Bush's host, Prime Minister Paul Martin, left the door open to some possible cooperation but ruled out any prospect...

Brazil, IAEA reach inspection agreement.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(International Atomic Energy Agency )
January 1, 2005... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has accepted Brazil's proposal for resolving a dispute over how to carry out inspections at the country's uranium-enrichment plant in Resende. With the IAEA's approval, Brazil will soon begin...

Global uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing facilities.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2005... Sources: Arms Control Association, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "Country Nuclear Fuel Cycle Profiles." Technical Reports Series No. 404. 2001; Joseph Cirincione. Jon B Wolfsthal, and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals: Tracking...

Bush picks new security team.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... President George W. Bush chose Deputy Treasury Secretary Sam Bodman, a chemical engineer, as his new secretary of energy Dec. 10, continuing his overhaul of key arms control and nonproliferation positions as he approaches his second term. ...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2005... The December 2004 issue of Arms Control Today contained two errors. * On page 12, two countries in the map, "Global Uranium Enrichment and Plutonium Reprocessing Facilities, 2004" were incorrectly labeled. In particular, Germany only...

E-mail updates.
January 1, 2005... subscribe to the Association's e-mail list and receive ACA and ACT e-mail updates www.armscontrol.org

The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship: peace and security fellowship in Washington, DC.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2005... The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship invites college graduates to apply for six to nine month fellowships in Washington, DC, focusing on arms control, peace, and international security issues. Scoville Fellows serve with one of the 23...

Reactor suspension extended; North Korea nuclear talks stall.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
January 1, 2005... With six-party talks designed to resolve a two-year-old North Korean nuclear crisis stuck in limbo, the United States, Japan, and South Korea have opted to renew the year-long construction freeze of two nuclear reactors promised to Pyongyang as...

EU retains China arms embargo.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
January 1, 2005... The European Union Dec. 8 rejected a Chinese bid to end a 15-year-old arms embargo, delighting the United States. Yet, Beijing's disappointment and Washington's satisfaction could be short-lived as the embargo's eventual end appears likely. ...

IAEA investigating Egypt and Taiwan.(THE WORLD)(International Atomic Energy Agency)
January 1, 2005... International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors are investigating evidence of past undeclared nuclear activities in Taiwan and Egypt, U.S. officials and sources close to the agency have confirmed. Although both countries are known to have...

Clearing mined areas now treaty aim.(THE WORLD)
January 1, 2005... More than 130 countries came together Nov. 29 to review a five-year-old treaty banning anti-personnel landmines (APLs) and agreed on a 70-point action plan for further treaty implementation. The United States, which announced nearly a year ago...

UN panel sounds nonproliferation alarm.(THE WORLD)
January 1, 2005... The decades-old effort to keep a tight lid on the spread of nuclear weapons is in jeopardy, warned a Dec. 2 report by a group of high-ranking experts. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan convened the group to assess threats to international peace...

U.S.-Russian nuclear rivalry lingers.(News ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2005... In signing an arms control treaty with Russia two years ago, President George W. Bush said the simple, less than 500-words document reflected a new spirit of cooperation and trust between the two former foes based upon the recognition that they...

Russia speeds chemical weapon disposal.(News ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2005... The destruction of Russia's massive Soviet-era chemical weapons stockpile has been proceeding glacially, but recent actions by Russian and U.S. leaders may allow this pace to be accelerated substantially. With slightly more than 40,000...

U.S. says it will complete Russian nuclear security upgrades by 2008.(News ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2005... A high-level Bush administration official told a gathering of nuclear experts Dec. 14 that the United States had accelerated its efforts to secure approximately 600 metric tons of fissile materials in Russia and was on track to complete this...