Arms Control Today articles from January 2008

Arms Control Today archives from January 2008

Editor's note.(Editorial)
January 1, 2008... Several articles in this month's issue demonstrate how the failure to carry out responsible arms control policies can have repercussions long after wars end or foreign policy priorities shift. Nearly 40 years ago, U.S. planes dropped...

Transforming U.S. nuclear weapons policy.(FOCUS)
January 1, 2008... Effecting change in Washington, and nuclear weapons policy in particular, is exceedingly difficult, requiring strong presidential leadership and a working bipartisan majority. Yet, recent congressional actions and trends will give the next...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... "Instead of a new nuclear weapon, the U.S. needs a comprehensive nuclear defense strategy, and a revised stockpile plan to guide the transformation and downsizing of the complex. To put it simply, funding the RRW right now puts the cart...

U.S. Congressmen Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.) and David Hobson (R-Ohio).(2007 Arms Control Person(s) of the Year)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... The pair garnered the highest number of votes in an online poll conducted by the Arms Control Association December 20-31, 2007. Visclosky chairs the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee and Hobson is the ranking...

The arms race and the presidential race.(Twenty Years Ago in ACT)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... A poorly thought out design for peace can end in war. And in the nuclear age, this fact demands that we apply the highest level of statecraft--not zealousness, not sentiment, but cool, farsighted and meticulous statecraft--in these matters. ...

By the numbers.(InBRIEF)(arms sales)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Proposed U.S. Foreign Military Sales Reported to Congress in 2007* 24 Countries, including Taiwan, which requested U.S. arms sales. $2.89 Billion Value of proposed arms sales to Morocco. $3.72 Billion Value of...

Discouraging a cascade of nuclear weapons states.(Reports of Note)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... Department of State, International Security Advisory Board, October 2007. In this report, the Department of State's International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) assessed the possibility that additional states would pursue the development...

Arming the heavens.(Reports of Note)(Brief article)(Book review)
January 1, 2008... Steven M. Kosiak, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, October 2007. In this report, Steven M. Kosiak, vice president for budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, seeks to add to the debate about the...

Wassenaar Arrangement.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... At their annual conclave Dec. 4-6, 2007 in Vienna, the 40 members of the voluntary Wassenaar Arrangement adopted several measures to improve monitoring and regulation of their exports of conventional arms and dual-use goods, those that have...

On the calendar.(What's Ahead)(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... Jan. 14-18 Group of government experts (GGE) on cluster munitions meeting, Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), Geneva. Jan. 21-Mar. 28 UN Conference on Disarmament, first session,...

Cluster munitions: ban them.
January 1, 2008... Before the end of this year, it is likely that representatives of a large number of governments will come together in Oslo, Norway to sign a new treaty prohibiting the use, production, trade, and stockpiling of cluster munitions that "cause...

Questionable reward: arms sales and the war on terrorism.
January 1, 2008... In November 2007, Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, invoked emergency rule, suspended the constitution, and arrested thousands of opponents and human rights advocates. As other countries, such as the Netherlands and Switzerland,...

If you lead, they will follow: public opinion and repairing the U.S.-Russian strategic relationship.
January 1, 2008... During the past decade, attention to the U.S.-Russian strategic relationship has steadily declined, even though the two countries' nuclear arsenals continue to represent the greatest physical threat that their societies face. Official policy...

Intel report reshapes Iran sanctions debate.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
January 1, 2008... The Dec. 3 release of a new U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear program appears to have placed another roadblock in the effort by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany to reach agreement on a...

Iran lauds development of solid-fuel missile.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
January 1, 2008... Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced Nov. 27 that Iran has developed a new, 2,000-kilometer-range ballistic missile. At that range, the new missile, named Ashura after the Shiite holy mourning ceremony, could strike...

Congress slows Saudi arms sale.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
January 1, 2008... Stiff congressional opposition to a summer 2007 proposal to sell sophisticated munitions to Saudi Arabia led the Bush administration to delay moving ahead on the deal for months, setting up a possible early 2008 showdown between lawmakers and...

Hill reviews defense policies; Nixes warhead.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2008... In a trio of bills passed recently, the Democratic-controlled Congress ordered several reviews of key Bush administration defense and nuclear policies, setting the stage for possible future course changes. Lawmakers also dealt a more immediate...

Mandates zero in on Certain Conventional arms.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Brief article)
January 1, 2008... In part in response to a July 2007 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report critical of the Department of Defense's record keeping, Congress has passed legislation mandating new tracking requirements for defense articles provided to Iraq....

Congress ups nonproliferation spending for '08.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2008... In the final months of 2007, Congress approved and President George W. Bush signed fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills substantially increasing spending above the president's original budget request for nonproliferation activities in the...

Congress alters bush's fuel cycle plans.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
January 1, 2008... Lawmakers in December approved legislation that would sharply scale back the Bush administration's proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) and cut money for an unrelated facility meant to dispose of surplus weapons-grade plutonium. At...

U.S.-NK clash on nuclear deadline.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
January 1, 2008... North Korea missed Dec. 31 deadlines to disable its nuclear reactor complex and declare all of its nuclear programs, albeit for different reasons. The disablement process is nearly complete, but was held up primarily for technical reasons as...

Concerns raised as South Korea joins GNEP.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)(Global Nuclear Energy Partnership)
January 1, 2008... South Korea Dec. 11 joined the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP), a step that could bring fresh controversy to the contested Bush administration program. South Korea's participation comes as it plans to move forward with a technology...

Russia suspends CFE treaty implementation.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(Conventional Armed Forces in Europe)
January 1, 2008... Russia followed through on its earlier threat to suspend implementation of a treaty limiting conventional weapons deployments in Europe by not providing a required year-end accounting of its forces. Yet, Moscow did not sever all ties to the...

Europe anti-missile plan faces hard sell.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
January 1, 2008... The Bush administration had envisioned 2008 as the year construction would begin on U.S. long-range anti-ballistic missile bases in Europe, but it still must convince others to go along with its plan. Moscow vigorously opposes the move and...

Some countries to miss mine treaty deadlines.(THE WORLD)(Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction)
January 1, 2008... At a recent states-parties meeting of a pact outlawing anti-personnel landmines (APLs), some governments indicated they might or are likely to miss treaty deadlines to destroy stored mines or clear weapons planted in the ground. Reasons cited...

BWC states tackle national implementation.(THE WORLD)(Biological Weapons Convention)
January 1, 2008... A Dec. 10-14 meeting of member states of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) offered rhetorical support for stepping up national implementation measures to bring domestic laws, administrative procedures, and regulations into conformity...

Conference addresses illicit nuclear trafficking.(THE WORLD)(Conference news)
January 1, 2008... In late November, delegates from around the world convened in Edinburgh, Scotland, to address the dangers posed by the trafficking of nuclear and radioactive materials. Organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and hosted...

More states step up anti-missile work.(THE WORLD)
January 1, 2008... As the United States struggles to establish a toehold for long-range ballistic missile interceptors in Europe, countries in other regions are showing greater interest in shorter-range anti-missile systems. Japan and India recently reported...