Arms Control Today articles from June 2005

Arms Control Today archives from June 2005

Editor's note.
June 1, 2005... Changes in technology, international relations, and the global economy have made it ever more challenging to discover and control the spread of dangerous weapons and related technologies, be they ballistic missiles or the building blocks of...

North Korea: time for results.(FOCUS)
June 1, 2005... Nearly one year has passed since the last round of six-party talks between North Korea and the United States and four other Asian powers, designed to contain and reverse Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. With the prospects for dialogue...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)
June 1, 2005... "International regimes do not fail because of one breach, however serious or unacceptable. They fail when many breaches pile one on top of the other, to the point where the gap between promise and performance becomes unbridgeable. As you...

The case for Iraq's qualitative disarmament.(Five Years Ago in ACT)
June 1, 2005... Given the comprehensive nature of the monitoring regime put in place by UNSCOM [the UN Special Commission], which included a strict export-import control regime, it was possible as early as 1997 to determine that, from a qualitative standpoint,...

By the numbers.(nuclear warheads)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... Accountable U.S. Strategic Nuclear Warheads Under START* 7,295 (January 31, 2001) 5,949 (December 5, 2001) 5,927 (July 31, 2002) 5,974 (January 31, 2003) 5,968 (January 31, 2004) 5,966 ...

Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Explosive Materials.(Reports of Note)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Explosive Materials By the Committee on International Security and Arms Control. National Academy of Sciences, April 2005. Undertaken at the request of the Department of Energy, this report...

Securing the Bomb 2005: The New Global Imperatives.(Reports of Note)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... Securing the Bomb 2005: The New Global Imperatives By Matthew Bunn and Anthony Wier. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. May 2005. The fourth in an annual series, the Harvard report details the progress of...

Nuclear-weapon-free zones.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... One hundred and eight states, both those party to and not party to nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs), met April 26-28 in Tlatelolco, Mexico, to rally support for new and existing NWFZs and their protocols. Such zones have been created by a...

IAEA additional protocol.(Treaty Update)(International Atomic Energy Agency)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... The Marshall Islands and Palau became the latest states to ratify a version of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 1997 Model Additional Protocol May 5 and 13, respectively. Such protocols allow for more intrusive inspections of...

What's ahead: on the calendar.(Calendar)
June 1, 2005... June 9-10 NATO Nuclear Planning Group. Nuclear-sharing arrangements governing the deployment of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe may be discussed Brussels, Belgium. June 13 International Atomic Energy...

Going ballistic? Reversing missile proliferation.(Cover Story)
June 1, 2005... India celebrated the anniversary of its constitution Jan. 26 with the annual Republic Day parade along New Delhi's imperial Rajpath. All the armed services were there, including horse and camel companies, but the culmination was the passing...

Avoiding enrichment: using financial tools to prevent another Khan network.(Abdul Qadeer Khan)
June 1, 2005... The existence of Abdul Qadeer Khan's nuclear black market, which supplied entire uranium-enrichment plants to the Libyan nuclear weapons programs, has shocked the world. It should also cause a fundamental rethinking about the frightening speed,...

The Robb-Silberman report, intelligence, and nonproliferation.
June 1, 2005... On March 31, a bipartisan commission led by former Senator Charles Robb (D-Va.) and federal appellate court judge Laurence Silberman, a Republican, reported to President George W. Bush on what went wrong in the intelligence community when it...

Allies seek to restart North Korea talks.(AISA AND AUSTRALIA)
June 1, 2005... Almost one year after the last round of six-party talks, diplomatic tensions surrounding North Korea's nuclear program continue to mount. No new talks are scheduled, Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program continues unhindered, and there are signs...

North Korean capabilities remain unclear.(AISA AND AUSTRALIA)
June 1, 2005... As six-party talks designed to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis have stagnated, concerns have increased that Pyongyang is bolstering its nuclear weapons capabilities. Some intelligence analysts have detected signs that Pyongyang may be...

India passes nonproliferation legislation.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
June 1, 2005... Both houses of India's parliament have passed legislation designed to strengthen the country's export controls over items related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and related delivery systems. Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam is expected to...

Final Iraq report downplays brain drain.(MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
June 1, 2005... The CIA released its final account April 25 of the U.S.-led investigation of Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. Although the new material continues to support previous findings that Iraq did not possess prohibited...

Syria to acquire Russian missiles.(MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
June 1, 2005... Russian President Vladimir Putin has brushed aside U.S. and Israeli objections and risked U.S. sanctions by authorizing the sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. In an April 20 interview with Israel's Channel One television network,...

EU-Iran talks ease suspense on suspension.(MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
June 1, 2005... Following a tense few weeks, Hassan Rowhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, and the foreign ministers from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom agreed May 25 to continue negotiations regarding Tehran's gas...

Belgium, Germany question U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
June 1, 2005... With May's nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference as a spur, German and Belgian politicians are calling on NATO to work toward the withdrawal of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. On May 2, German Foreign Minister...

Russia, Georgia troop deal closer.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
June 1, 2005... Talks between Georgia and Russia over Moscow's withdrawal of its military forces from its southern neighbor have progressed, but a final settlement remains elusive. Moldova has made no recent headway in a similar dispute with Russia. ...

U.S., Russia near liability accord.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
June 1, 2005... U.S. and Russian negotiators say they are coming closer to resolving a long-standing dispute that for nearly two years has stymied a joint program to dispose of tons of weapons-grade plutonium. However, the hopes that a deal could be reached in...

Germany, NATO advance missile defenses.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)
June 1, 2005... German lawmakers in late April cleared the way for Berlin to continue work with the United States and Italy on a battlefield air and missile defense system. All three countries belong to NATO, which recently agreed to establish a battle...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2005... The September 2004 issue of Arms Control Today on page 43 incorrectly reported the estimated amount of Russian ammunition stockpiled in Moldova. The correct figure is nearly 21,000 metric tons. Previous articles on the subject included the...

To the editor.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... Arms Control Today welcomes letters from our readers. Letters should be under 600 words and should include the writer's full name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for space. Mail to: 1150 Connecticut Ave., NW,...

Bolton Senate vote delayed.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
June 1, 2005... Although Democrats succeeded May 26 in putting off a final vote, John R. Bolton appears close to winning Senate approval as the next U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations. Bolton served as undersecretary of state for arms control...

Pentagon backs off chemical weapons destruction study.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
June 1, 2005... Following intense criticism from Congress, the Department of Defense has put a controversial chemical weapons disposal study on the back burner. The study included an option for the removal of weapons from two previously planned disposal sites...

Divisions foil NPT review conference.(THE WORLD)
June 1, 2005... Marking a sluggish start to a long-awaited nuclear gathering, the 2005 Review Conference of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) finally began substantive work May 19 after nearly three weeks of debate over procedural matters. The...

Looking back: arms control reorganization, then and now.
June 1, 2005... When he was pressing for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency's (ACDA) demise in the 1990s, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) called the agency and its mission "Cold War relics." This year, explaining the...