Arms Control Today articles from March 2002

Arms Control Today archives from March 2002

Name-calling or nonproliferation? (Focus).(George W. Bush's international relations tactics)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In a potent political one-liner delivered in January, President George W. Bush prominently labeled Iran, Iraq, and North Korea an "axis of evil" that is supporting terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them....

Expounding Bush's approach to U.S. nuclear security: An interview with John R. Bolton.(Interview)
March 1, 2002... Arms Control Today met with John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security on February 11 to discuss the Bush administration's strategic nuclear policy, its ongoing negotiations with Russia, and its approach...

The impact of September 11 on multilateral Arms Control.(Transcript)
March 1, 2002... On January 22, Jayantha Dhanapala, the United Nations undersecretary-general for disarmament affairs, delivered the keynote address at the Arms Control Association's annual luncheon. In his speech, Dhanapala discussed the span of multilateral...

Parsing the nuclear posture review: An ACA panel discussion.(Arms Control Association)(Transcript)
March 1, 2002... Before its annual luncheon and membership meeting on January 22, the Arms Control Association held a panel discussion to examine the Bush administration's nuclear posture review, which was first outlined in a Pentagon briefing January 9. The...

U.S., Russia agree to codify nuclear reductions. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... U.S. AND RUSSIAN officials announced in February that they have agreed to work toward a formal agreement codifying strategic nuclear cuts that will be subject to approval by their respective legislatures, and they provided more details on the...

Bush administration reaffirms negative security assurances. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ON FEBRUARY 22, the State Department reiterated a longstanding U.S. policy that restricts the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-armed states, after a senior arms control official cast doubt on the Bush administration's support for the...

Democrats criticize nuclear posture review. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DISAGREEING WITH THEIR Republican colleagues, leading Democratic lawmakers sharply criticized the Bush administration's recently released nuclear posture review, charging that the administration's plans perpetuate outdated nuclear policies. ...

Congressional Budget Office projects missile defense costs. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... FULFILLING A RESEARCH request made by senior Senate Democrats last year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report January 31 estimating that separate ground-, sea-, and space-based missile defenses would each cost tens of...

Pentagon requests $7.8 billion in missile defense funding. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Pentagon announced February 1 that it is asking Congress for $7.8 billion in missile defense funding for fiscal year 2003, approximately the same amount it received in December 2001 for current missile defense spending. If fully...

Bush labels North Korea, Iran, Iraq an 'axis of evil'. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... APPARENTLY ATTEMPTING TO increase international pressure on "rogue states" that could use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or provide them to terrorists, President George W. Bush characterized North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as "an axis of evil,...

Threat reduction funding increase requested. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... AFTER REQUESTING CUTS for threat reduction and nonproliferation programs last year, the Bush administration has asked Congress to increase funding for the efforts to downsize and secure weapons of mass destruction materials and expertise in the...

U.S., Russian companies tentatively agree on 'HEU deal'. (News and Negotiations).(Highly Enriched Uranium Purchase Agreement)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE COMPANIES IMPLEMENTING a 1993 nonproliferation program under which the United States buys uranium from Russian nuclear warheads for use in power reactors reached an agreement in February that will allow shipments to resume in March. ...

U.S. to continue plutonium disposition pact with Russia. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ENERGY SECRETARY SPENCER Abraham announced January 23 that the Bush administration will continue implementing a U.S.-Russian agreement to make 34 metric tons of military plutonium unusable for weapons purposes. However, the administration...

No deal reached on Chinese missile proliferation. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... DURING A FEBRUARY 21-22 state visit to China, President George W. Bush failed to resolve concerns about Beijing's implementation of a deal to curb Chinese missile proliferation, despite a recent report that agreement could be within reach. ...

Next U.S. missile defense test to have three decoys. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE PENTAGON IS planning to make its next attempt to destroy a mock strategic warhead in space more challenging than previous ground-based midcourse missile defense tests by increasing the number of balloon decoys accompanying the target from...

India tests short-range Agni ballistic missile. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... AMID A TENSE military standoff between India and Pakistan, New Delhi claimed it successfully tested a new, short-range version of the Agni-1 ballistic missile on January 25. This is the first known test of an Agni-1 variant, an adaptation...

Navy theater missile defense test successful. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ON JANUARY 25, a U.S. Navy ship successfully launched a missile interceptor carrying a warhead that collided with a ballistic missile target about 160 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean. The intercept, which the Pentagon predicted as "probable"...

States meet to discuss ballistic missile code of conduct. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... IN AN EFFORT to stem further missile proliferation, 86 countries met in Paris February 7-8 to discuss a proposed draft "code of conduct" that would offer confidence-building measures to states willing to restrain their ballistic missiles...

China sanctioned for chem, bio transfers to Iran. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ON JANUARY 16, the United States sanctioned two Chinese companies and an individual for transferring to Iran sensitive equipment and technology used to manufacture chemical and biological weapons. According to the State Department, the...

Intelligence estimate upgrades Chinese, Iranian missile threats. (New and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... ON JANUARY 9, the intelligence community released an unclassified summary of its 2001 report on foreign ballistic missile developments through 2015. In general, the report differs little from the last public National Intelligence Estimate...

Report evaluates Russian nuclear weapons security. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A FEBRUARY 2002 annual report to Congress from the National Intelligence Council concludes that Russia maintains "adequate" control over its nuclear weapons but warns that although "nuclear [weapons complex] security has been slowly improving...

U.S. presses Russia on nuclear, missile cooperation with Iran. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... IN TWO RECENT high-level meetings in Moscow, U.S. officials pressed Russia to stop nuclear and missile cooperation with Iran. John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, met with Russian Deputy Minister...

U.S. may request Chemical Weapons Convention Inspections. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE UNITED STATES is considering calling for challenge inspections under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) but is concerned about the management of the treaty's implementing body, according to a U.S. official. During a February 11...

Conference on Disarmament begins 2002 session. (News and Negotiations).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... THE UN CONFERENCE on Disarmament (CD) started its annual session January 22 with a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging the 66-member body to overcome its three years of "stagnation" and "prolonged inactivity," during which it...

Bush requests funds for CTBT Monitoring. (News Briefs).(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Bush administration has requested funds in its fiscal year 2003 budget submission to Congress for the development of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty's (CTBT) International Monitoring System, which is intended to detect and thereby deter...

Chile commits to purchase F-16 fighters. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Chile signed a $500 million deal February 1 to receive 10 F-16C/D fighter aircraft from the United States. The deal marks the first sale of advanced U.S. weaponry to a Latin American country since President Bill Clinton's August 1997 decision...

Colombia receives U.S. helicopters. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In a January 8 ceremony with Colombian President Andres Pastrana, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia formally presented 14 UH-60L Blackhawk helicopters to the country for its counter-narcotics efforts. Part of a $13 billion aid package to Colombia...