Arms Control Today articles from May 2009

Arms Control Today archives from May 2009

Editor's note.(Obama's speech on nuclear weapons)
May 1, 2009... President Barack Obama's April 5 speech in Prague listed a host of nuclear challenges and sketched out plans for meeting them. In this month's issue, three experts provide detailed analyses that fill out and go beyond the broad agenda that...

The logic of the Test Ban Treaty.(FOCUS)
May 1, 2009... In his stirring April 5 speech in Prague, President Barack Obama outlined his vision for strengthening global efforts to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and moving forward on practical, immediate steps "to seek the peace and security of a...

Notable quotable.(InBRIEF)(Quotation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... "There is violence and injustice in our world that must be confronted. We must confront it not by splitting apart but by standing together as free nations, as free people. I know that a call to arms can stir the souls of men and women more than...

Fifteen years ago in ACT: strategic nuclear policy and non-proliferation.(InBRIEF)(Arms Control Today)(Quotation)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... "[P]erhaps the clearest single statement about the non-utility of nuclear weaponry was made by President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union speech in 1984. Speaking directly to the people of the Soviet Union, President Reagan declared that...

U.S. and Russian deployed strategic delivery vehicles,* 2001 to 2009.(BY THE NUMBERS)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
May 1, 2009... 1,198 Deployed Russian strategic delivery vehicles (July 31, 2001) 814 Deployed Russian strategic delivery vehicles (Jan. 1, 2009) -384 Change in deployed Russian strategic delivery vehicles (July 31, 2001, to Jan. 1,...

The united states and Mexico.(Conventional Arming and Disarming)(arms transfers)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... * The United States and Mexico are considering military aircraft deals valued at up to $153 million. The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the potential foreign military sales March 13 and April 3. The equipment, one...

Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the united kingdom.(Conventional Arming and Disarming)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... * Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States have agreed on a program of action to block arms smuggling into Gaza. In a press statement March 16, U.S. Department of State...

The United States has agreed to sell anti-submarine aircraft valued at $2.1 billion to India.(Conventional Arming and Disarming)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... * The United States has agreed to sell anti-submarine aircraft valued at $2.1 billion to India. The Obama administration notified Congress March 12 of the deal, which involves eight Boeing P8i long-range maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine...

Ethiopia.(Conventional Arming and Disarming)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... * In April, Ethiopia announced the destruction of its anti-personnel landmine stockpile ahead of its June 1 deadline under the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. According to the 2008 Landmine Monitor Report, the country has not deployed new anti-personnel...

Chemical Weapons Convention.(Treaty Update)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... India has destroyed its chemical weapons stockpile, a spokesperson for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) told Arms Control Today April 20. India's action makes it the third chemical weapons possessor to have...

Cifta.(Treaty Update)(Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... President Barack Obama announced April 16 that he would urge the Senate to ratify the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and...

On the calendar.(Brief article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2009... On the Calendar May 4-15 Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Nuclear Nonpro-liferationTreaty Review Conference, New York May 18-July 3 Second Session of the Conference on ...

Loose nukes in new neighborhoods: the next generation of proliferation prevention.(nuclear proliferation)(Report)
May 1, 2009... In the initial weeks of the Obama administration, former Vice President Dick Cheney stated that there was a "high probability" of a terrorist attempt to use a nuclear weapon or biological agent and that "whether they can pull it off depends on...

Reshaping strategic relationships: expanding the arms control toolbox.(Report)
May 1, 2009... Soon after the Obama administration took office, Vice President Joe Biden set the tone of the new administration's approach toward Moscow when he called for the United States and Russia to press the "reset button" in their bilateral...

Defining noncompliance: NPT safeguards agreements.(Nonproliferation Treaty)(Report)
May 1, 2009... The process of determining noncompliance is an important aspect of the international atomic energy agency (IAEA) safeguards system, as well as the only established mechanism for determining noncompliance with the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty...

Remarks of President Barack Obama (Excerpts).(nuclear arms control)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2009... Prague, Czech Republic April 5, 2009 [T]oday, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. This goal will not be reached quickly--perhaps not in my...

Obama calls for nuclear weapons-free world.(THE WORLD)
May 1, 2009... President Barack Obama delivered his first major address on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation April 5 in Prague, declaring he would "seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As a...

Five candidates vie for top IAEA post.(THE WORLD)(International Atomic Energy Agency )
May 1, 2009... The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced April 29 that the field of candidates for director-general has expanded from two to five. The agency had reopened the nominating process following an inconclusive vote in March to...

CCW extends work on clusters protocol.(THE WORLD)(Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons )
May 1, 2009... At what was to be their final meeting of the year, a group of governmental experts failed to complete the text of a possible new protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) specifically addressing cluster munitions. The...

U.S., Russia agree on path for new arms cuts.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(strategic arms reduction talks)
May 1, 2009... At their inaugural meeting April 1, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to launch bilateral talks aimed at concluding a successor agreement to the 1991 START no later than the end of the year. START is scheduled...

Steinmeier calls for U.S. to withdraw nukes.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier)
May 1, 2009... In an unprecedented statement for a German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier last month called for the withdrawal of the U.S. nuclear weapons deployed in his country. Steinmeier told the German magazine Der Spiegel April 10 that "these...

Presidents back U.S.-Russian civil nuclear pact.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev )
May 1, 2009... President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to move ahead with a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement between their countries, but a senior Department of State official said the Obama administration may need some...

N. Korea launches rocket, renounces talks.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
May 1, 2009... North Korea's long anticipated rocket launch April 5 set off a chain of events resulting in international sanctions on North Korean firms and Pyongyang's withdrawal from six-way talks to end its nuclear weapons program. North Korea, which...

World powers invite Iran to nuclear talks.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
May 1, 2009... The United States and five other world powers in April invited Iran to renewed talks to address international concerns over Tehran's nuclear program. The move came as Washington was finalizing a new Iran policy, which U.S. officials have...

Gates reorienting missile defense programs.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Defense Secretary Robert Gates)
May 1, 2009... The U.S. missile defense program would be refocused and its overall spending would decline under the Obama administration's fiscal year 2010 budget request, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said April 6. At a press conference, Gates said he...

Part of GNEP officially canceled.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Global Nuclear Energy Partnership )
May 1, 2009... The Department of Energy last month announced it had ended a key part of the Bush administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) but said it is "considering options" for continuing the effort's international component. GNEP...

GAO details nuclear aid to terrorism sponsors.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Government Accountability Office)
May 1, 2009... Four countries the Department of State has designated as sponsors of terrorism received a total of $55 million in nuclear technical assistance under an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) program between 1997 and 2007, according to a...

National Ignition Facility completed.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... The National Ignition Facility (NIF), a central component of U.S. scientific research and stockpile stewardship, has been completed, the Department of Energy announced March 31. The NIF has been under construction at Lawrence Livermore National...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 1, 2009... In the April 2009 issue of Arms Control Today, a word was omitted from a sentence in the article, "The Future of Nuclear Arms: A World United and Divided by Zero." The sentence, on page 21, should read, "The world today is largely united on the...

Civilian control of nuclear weapons.(LOOKING BACK:)(Report)
May 1, 2009... Ever since the Manhattan Project, which built the first U.S. atomic bombs during World War II, tensions have persisted among civilian and military leaders over the control of nuclear weapons. Those tensions are highlighted anew with a proposal...