Arms Control Today articles from July 2007

Arms Control Today archives from July 2007

Editor's note.
July 1, 2007... It is perhaps the scenario most dreaded by the American public and U.S. national security experts: Organized crime gangs take advantage of poorly secured former Soviet nuclear materials and smuggle a bomb's worth of nuclear material across...

Missile defense collision course.(FOCUS)
July 1, 2007... When President George W. Bush withdrew from the 1972 U.S.-Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty five years ago, he asserted that "my decision to withdraw from the treaty will not, in any way, undermine our new relationship or Russian security."...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)(Senators Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar during a committee meeting)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... "[The failure to extend START] I think would be the single greatest negative legacy this administration could leave.... [T]his administration would be judged incredibly harshly by history if they leave it undone, unspoken to, unresolved by...

Iraq's quest for the nuclear grail: what can we learn?(Fifteen Years Ago in ACT)(Excerpt)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Unofficial statements from Washington this year suggested that the nuclear-armed U.S. military should now prevent others from acquiring nuclear weapons.... Indeed, talk of U.S. attacks on potential proliferators is likely to be...

By the numbers.(InBRIEF)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... U.S. and Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces Under START (as of Jan. 1)*. 530 Russian ICBMs 550** U.S. ICBMs 272 Russian Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles 432 U.S. Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles ...

Chemical Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... After missing its original April 2004 deadline, the United States completed demilitarizing 45 percent of its chemical weapons stockpiles in June, six months ahead of the extended deadline. Since the Chemical Weapons Convention's (CWC) entry...

Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material.(Treaty Update)(Indian Extradition Act of 1962)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... On June 15, the Indian parliament ratified a July 2005 amendment to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and revised a national extradition law. U.S. officials had...

International Convention for the Suppression of Nuclear Terrorism.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... On July 7, the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism entered into force after Bangladesh became the 22nd country to ratify or accede to it. Proposed by Russia in 1998 and adopted on April 13, 2005, the...

Megaports Initiative.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... The United States and China signed an agreement June 6 to minimize the risk of illicit nuclear trafficking through international maritime channels. China, the world's largest exporter of global cargo, will install special radiation-detection...

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.(Comings and Goings)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced that General Peter Pace will not be reappointed to a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Admiral Michael G. Mullen, chief of naval operations, has been recommended to replace...

Deputy National Security.(Comings and Goings)
July 1, 2007... Deputy National Security Advisor J.D. Crouch II has resigned after serving at the post since 2005.

National Nuclear Security Administration.(Comings and Goings)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... President George W. Bush has nominated Thomas P. D'Agostino as undersecretary of energy and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Recently, he served as the NNSA's acting administrator and deputy administrator...

Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics.(Comings and Goings)
July 1, 2007... Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Kenneth J. Krieg is resigning July 20 or following a successor's confirmation.

Pak Ui Chun has been appointed as North Korea's new foreign minister.(Comings and Goings)(Brief article)
July 1, 2007... Former ambassador to Russia, Pak Ui Chun, has been appointed as North Korea's new foreign minister, a post that had been vacant since the death of Paek Nam Sun in January.

On the calendar.(What's Ahead)(Brief article)(Calendar)
July 1, 2007... Aug. 6 & 9 The 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Aug. 20-24 Meeting of Experts on the Biological Weapons Convention, Geneva. Sept. 10-14 International Atomic Energy Agency...

An unrealized nexus? WMD-related trafficking, terrorism, and organized crime in the former Soviet Union.(weapons of mass destruction)
July 1, 2007... The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, powerfully advanced the notion that terrorist groups might acquire and use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or, more plausibly, radiological dispersal devices (RDD). Terrorist interest in weapons of...

Following the clues: the role of forensics in preventing nuclear terrorism.
July 1, 2007... Although the more than 50 incidents of trafficking in nuclear and radiological materials each year are worrisome, these cases also provide valuable insight to the movement of these materials worldwide. Conducting thorough investigations that...

More than words: the value of U.S. non-nuclear-use promises.
July 1, 2007... Last year, for the first time, the United States voted in the UN General Assembly against a traditional resolution calling for negotiation of legally binding negative security assurances (NSAs) by nuclear-weapon states. These are promises not...

U.S. reaffirms Europe anti-missile plan.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
July 1, 2007... Russian President Vladimir Putin's June 7 proposal to share radar data on missiles with the United States might be an earnest offer, a cynical ploy to undercut U.S. plans to base anti-missile systems in Europe, or both. Regardless, U.S. leaders...

Nuclear talks waiting on the United States.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
July 1, 2007... U.S. and Russian negotiators have put on hold talks on measures to succeed a landmark nuclear weapons reduction treaty while the Bush administration figures out its positions. But U.S. lawmakers are already starting to volunteer their advice....

Conventional arms treaty dispute persists.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
July 1, 2007... Russia and NATO are still at odds over a European conventional arms pact despite an emergency meeting June 11-15 to discuss their differences. Russia is complaining that its long-standing concerns are still being ignored but has not suspended...

Iran offers to resolve issues with IAEA.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)(international atomic energy agency)
July 1, 2007... Iran has invited International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials to visit Tehran in order to "develop an action plan for resolving outstanding issues" related to the country's past nuclear activities, agency spokesperson Melissa Fleming...

Iran-Iraq chemical warfare aftershocks persist.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
July 1, 2007... Almost two decades after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, the conflict's chemical weapons legacy lingers in the streets of Ramadi and in courtrooms throughout the world. Iranian, Kurdish, and U.S. victims of Iraq's chemical weapons are seeking...

Libya backs out of CW destruction agreement.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)(chemical weapons)
July 1, 2007... Vowing to take sole responsibility for destroying its chemical weapons, Libya has annulled its contract with the United States. The Libyan government cancelled the agreement, effective June 14, because of dissatisfaction with its provisions on...

IAEA, Congress tackle nuclear fuel supply.(THE WORLD)(international atomic energy agency)
July 1, 2007... International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei June 13 presented the agency's Board of Governors with a report outlining ways countries might work together to discourage the spread of uranium enrichment and spent...

Cluster munitions control efforts make gains.(THE WORLD)
July 1, 2007... The clock appears to be ticking on the unconstrained use of cluster munitions. The ranks of a Norwegian-led initiative to prohibit these types of weapons have swelled to approximately 70 countries. Meanwhile, the United States recently switched...

Anti-nuclear terrorism strategies discussed.(THE WORLD)
July 1, 2007... On June 11, some 38 partner states of the nearly one-year-old Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism convened for the third meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, to discuss future prospects. In a simultaneous meeting, representatives from close...

Lawmakers sideline new U.S. nuclear warhead.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
July 1, 2007... Congress has yet to complete the raft of bills governing U.S. nuclear funding and policy for the next fiscal year, but the early returns are not promising for the Bush administration's program to develop a new nuclear warhead. Lawmakers say...

Sanctions on Iran grow.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
July 1, 2007... During the past several months, the U.S. Departments of State and the Treasury have placed sanctions on several Iranian entities that they claim have engaged in activities related to Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Meanwhile,...

ElBaradei: IAEA budget problems dangerous.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
July 1, 2007... Budget constraints are jeopardizing the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) ability to perform vital parts of its mission, particularly those most closely related to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, Director-General Mohamed...

In memoriam: Charles William Maynes Jr.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(In memoriam)
July 1, 2007... Reviewing a biography in The New York Times on British arms control advocate and scientist Solly Zuckerman, Charles William "Bill" Maynes Jr. wrote, "One of life's mysteries is why some individuals accomplish so much." Maynes exemplified this...

North Korea reactor shutdown looms.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
July 1, 2007... International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials visited North Korea in late June, almost two weeks after Pyongyang agreed to finish implementing a February pledge to halt its nuclear reactor. Another meeting of six-party talks designed to...

U.S.-Indian talks fail to move nuclear deal.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
July 1, 2007... Top U.S. and Indian officials failed recently to jump-start their stalled negotiations on a bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement that both governments hail as a centerpiece of their new relationship. The two sides sought to...

Taiwan buys U.S. arms; U.S. eyes China.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
July 1, 2007... Taiwan's legislature recently approved buying a dozen anti-submarine planes, a modest portion of an original $18 billion U.S. arms package offered six years ago. The purchase comes amid persistent U.S. questions about China's military...

Book review: the wisdom of sharing the peaceful atom.(Atoms for Peace: A Future after Fifty Years?)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Atoms for Peace: A Future after Fifty Years? Edited by Joseph F. Pilat Johns Hopkins University Press, March 2007, 392 pp [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When President Dwight Eisenhower made his historic Atoms for Peace address to the UN...

Breaking the Nuclear Impasse: New Prospects for Security Against Nuclear Weapons.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Breaking the Nuclear Impasse: New Prospects for Security Against Nuclear Weapons Eds. Jeffrey Laurenti and Carl Robichaud, The Century Foundation Press, May 2007, 142 pp. This book is the product of a Century Foundation conference held...

Arms Control After Iraq: Normative and Operational Challenges.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Arms Control After Iraq: Normative and Operational Challenges Eds. Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu and Ramesh Thakur, The United Nations University Press, 2006, 452 pp. Taking advantage of a wide variety of state and regional perspectives,...

Global Non-Proliferation and Counter-Terrorism: The Impact of UNSCR 1540.(Books OF NOTE)(Brief article)(Book review)
July 1, 2007... Global Non-Proliferation and Counter-Terrorism: The Impact of UNSCR 1540 Eds. Olivia Bosch et al., Brookings Institution Press, 2007, 226 pp. Three years after its adoption, policymakers and scholars evaluate UN Security Council...

The U.S. government has been promoting nuclear proliferation.(Letter TO THE EDITOR)
July 1, 2007... All too often, those interested in arms control are sidetracked by misunderstandings rampant in the academic community about technical factors associated with nonproliferation. Civilian nuclear power--more a peaceful digression and buffer from...

Corrections.(Correction notice)
July 1, 2007... * On page 39 of Arms Control Today's June 2007 issue, the date that a diplomatic source spoke to Arms Control Today regarding the estimated speed at which Iran is able to install centrifuges was incorrect. The correct date of the interview is...

Not going nuclear: Japan's response to North Korea's nuclear test.
July 1, 2007... Since North Korea's nuclear test on October 9, 2006, there has been considerable foreign speculation that the explosion might prompt Japan to develop its own nuclear weapons arsenal. These views do not reflect the relatively restrained reaction...