Arms Control Today articles from May 2005

Arms Control Today archives from May 2005

Editor's note.
May 1, 2005... This month, delegations from nearly 190 countries will meet in New York to discuss the status of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). They will certainly have plenty to debate. In the five years since the last such NPT review...

Replacement nuclear warheads? Buyer beware.
May 1, 2005... Soon after President George W. Bush took office, the Pentagon proposed a controversial new plan for U.S. nuclear forces that calls for new low-yield warheads and enhancements of existing high-yield earth-penetrating weapons to expand U.S....

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)
May 1, 2005... "I think there is a lot of attractiveness to space-based interceptors.... I believe it is worth the experimentation. That's why we put it in our program, and we will begin that experimentation in the 2008 time frame." --Lieutenant General...

Navigating the security sea change.(quotations)
May 1, 2005... If one looks only at U.S. and Soviet forces, I believe one could probably design a very stable deterrent with some 1,000 nuclear warheads on each side. If Third World and terrorist weapons of mass destruction emerge as a threat to the...

By the numbers.
May 1, 2005... States-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) at successive review conferences 91 In 1975 114 In 1980 131 In 1985 140 In 1990 178 In 1995 187 In 2000 189* In 2005...

Australia Group.(export control of biological and chemical weapons)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Australia Group, which aims to promote effective export controls relevant to halting biological and chemical weapons proliferation, marked its 20th anniversary at an annual plenary meeting held in Sydney April 18-22. The group agreed to...

Biological Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Three former republics of the Soviet Union have joined the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Tajikistan and Moldova deposited their instruments of ratification Dec. 8 and Dec. 17, 2004, respectively, following Kyrgyzstan's ascension in early...

Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.(Treaty Update)
May 1, 2005... Finland ratified Protocol V to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons on March 23. This protocol requires states party to an armed conflict to accept responsibility for removing and destroying unexploded ordnance, or explosive remnants...

Convention on Nuclear Safety.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A review meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety was held at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna from April 11-22. The 1994 Convention, which entered into force in 1996, obligates countries to maintain high levels of...

World Bank.(Comings and Goings)(Gordon England )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... President George W. Bush has chosen Navy Secretary Gordon England to become deputy defense secretary, replacing Paul D. Wolfowitz, who will head the World Bank. Bush has also selected departing U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric S. Edelman to...

Bush has nominated U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad to replace John Negroponte as the U.S. envoy to Iraq.(Comings and Goings)(Zalmay Khalilzad )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Bush has nominated U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad to replace John Negroponte as the U.S. envoy to Iraq. The Senate confirmed Negroponte as the nation's first national intelligence director.

Joint Chiefs of Staff.(Comings and Goings)(Peter Pace )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Bush has appointed Marine Corps. Gen. Peter Pace to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, replacing Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, who is set to retire Sept. 30. Bush has nominated Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani Jr. to replace...

What's ahead: on the calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... May 2-27 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. New York, New York. May 6-10 President George W. Bush visits Russia, Georgia, Latvia, and the Netherlands. May 23- CTBTO Working Group on Verification:...

Testing time for Europe's nonproliferation strategy.(NPT 2005)
May 1, 2005... Members of the European Union, shaken by their failure to unite on a pre-war strategy toward Iraq, decided in late 2003 that they needed a new approach for dealing with future challenges from countries with nuclear, chemical, or biological...

Zeroing in on noncompliance: an interview with assistant secretary of state Stephen G. Rademaker on the U.S. approach to the 2005 nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.(NPT 2005)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Stephen G. Rademaker has served as assistant secretary of state for arms control since August 2002. Recently, he was also charged with overseeing the department's nonproliferation bureau. In an April 19 interview with Arms Control Today,...

NPT withdrawal: time for the Security Council to step in.(NPT 2005)(nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty )
May 1, 2005... The nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) provides that a state-party intending to withdraw from the treaty must give the UN Security Council three months' notice of its intention and provide the Security Council with its reasons for...

U.S. weighing nuclear stockpile changes.
May 1, 2005... Existing nuclear weapons and infrastructure need a makeover if the United States wants to continue reducing its arsenal, a top Department of Energy official told Senate panels in April. But some lawmakers are leery that the initiative might...

Panel delays vote on Bolton nomination.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(John R. Bolton)
May 1, 2005... The Senate Foreign Relations Committee April 19 delayed a vote on John R. Bolton's nomination as U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations. The holdup came after a series of hearings, press reports, and interviews by committee aides...

Bolton hearings highlight internal differences on Cuba's biological weapons.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(John R. Bolton )
May 1, 2005... During April 11-12 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the confirmation of John R. Bolton to be U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations, a major controversy involved the use of intelligence on alleged Cuban efforts that...

Commission slams WMD intelligence.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
May 1, 2005... A White House-appointed commission March 31 offered a scathing account of U.S. intelligence failures prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Additionally, it acknowledged that U.S. intelligence is not much better on other weapons...

U.S. sets missile defense for Europe, space.
May 1, 2005... The Pentagon has plans to deploy missile interceptors in space and Europe over the next several years, even though it requested little or no funding for these activities in its latest budget proposal in February. Speaking April 11 to a...

Missile defense performance top concern.
May 1, 2005... A congressional investigative body recently concluded that operation of the Pentagon's fledgling missile defense system "remains uncertain and unverified." Last fall, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) installed six long-range,...

U.S. shifts fuel cycle position?
May 1, 2005... Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman indicated in an April 5 speech that the United States may be adjusting its position on measures intended to limit the spread of materials and technologies that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Bodman's...

Venezuela arms buys irk U.S. officials.
May 1, 2005... The United States has criticized Venezuela's recent spate of arms purchases, viewing it as potentially unsettling to Latin America. Venezuela defends the buys as bolstering its national security. In March, Venezuela concluded deals for 10...

Pakistan, India get green light to buy U.S. fighter jets.
May 1, 2005... The Bush administration March 25 announced its willingness to sell advanced fighter aircraft to India and Pakistan, reversing 15 years of U.S. policy to deny Islamabad such arms because of its nuclear weapons ambitions. The decision came...

New details emerge on Pakistani networks.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2005... New details are emerging about Pakistan's role as both a customer and supplier of materials and equipment with potential nuclear weapons applications as international investigations pry deeper into the country's clandestine procurement...

U.S. pushes to restart North Korea talks.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2005... After a fresh series of provocative North Korean actions, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill traveled to China, Japan, and South Korea late last month in another effort to restart six-party talks...

Iranian negotiators' veiled flexibility.
May 1, 2005... In seeking to persuade Iran to cease completely its gas centrifuge-based uranium-enrichment program, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have offered a combination of incentives and disincentives. So far, Iran has proven to be a tough...

UN adopts nuclear terrorism convention; treaty seven years in the making.
May 1, 2005... The UN General Assembly April 13 adopted an international convention addressing the threat of nuclear terrorism, bringing an end to more than seven years of negotiations on the document. The treaty criminalizes the possession, use, or threat of...

Ukraine admits missile transfers.
May 1, 2005... Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that a total of 12 Kh-55 medium-range, air-launched cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads were transferred from Ukraine to Iran and China in the last five years. U.S. officials expressed...

Book review: biological weapons breakdown.(The Biological Weapons Convention: A Failed Revolution)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Biological Weapons Convention: A Failed Revolution By Jez Littlewood Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2005, 250 pp. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nearly four years have passed since the Bush administration's dramatic rejection of a draft...

The Bomb: A Life.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Bomb: A Life By Gerard DeGroot. Harvard University, May 2005, 397 pp. Gerard DeGroot chronicles a broad tableau of nuclear history from the first realization of the possibility of the atom bomb in the physics labs of Europe, to its...

South Africa's Weapons of Mass Destruction.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... South Africa's Weapons of Mass Destruction By Helen E. Purkitt and Stephen F. Burgess. Indiana University Press, May 2005, 322 pp. On the basis of extensive archival evidence and interviews with military and political officials, Helen...

The Worlds of Herman Khan: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... The Worlds of Herman Khan: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War By Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi. Harvard University Press, April 2005, 387 pp. Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi delves into the remarkable and terrifying world of Herman Kahn,...

The Future of Arms Control.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... It was an honor to have our book, The Future of Arms Control, reviewed in the March issue of Arms Control Today by such a distinguished scholar as John Steinbruner. We are grateful that he concludes that the book is worth reading. We further...

Getting verification wrong.(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... The views of Paula DeSutter on verification and compliance issues, as reported in the April issue of Arms Control Today in the article "The Bush Administration and Verification," are patronizing, wrong, or ill considered. Effective verification...