Arms Control Today articles from November 2008

Arms Control Today archives from November 2008

Editor's note.(nuclear arms control)
November 1, 2008... When the new president elected this month takes office, the question of how to deal with Iran's nuclear program will be at or near the top of his national security agenda. In our cover story, former Israeli Deputy National Security Adviser...

Jump-starting U.S.-Russian disarmament.(FOCUS)
November 1, 2008... During his 2000 presidential campaign, Gov, George W. Bush pledged to "leave the Cold War behind [and] rethink the requirements for nuclear deterrence." Today, the United States and Russia each still deploy about 3,000-4,000 strategic nuclear...

Notable quotable.(In BRIEF)(Secretary of Defense Robert Gates)(Quotation)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... "One of the things that I believe very strongly is that the arms control process itself contributed to a safer world; that it was, in essence, a quarter-century seminar between the United States and the Soviet Union on how each thought about...

Curbing nuclear proliferation.(Five Years Ago in ACT)(Quotation)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... I think the problem under the [nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] NPT is that you can have the full gamut of fuel-cycle technologies, and that really is the problem. The concern is not that a country has a power reactor or a research reactor. The...

U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads.(NUMBERS)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... 2,871 and Unreported Respective U.S. and Russian operationally deployed strategic warheads under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), according to the Department of State * 5,951 and 4,138 Respective U.S. and Russian...

Internationalization of the nuclear fuel cycle: goals, strategies, and challenges; U.S. and Russian National Academies of Sciences, 2008.(Reports of Note)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Tasked with examining the barriers to greater international control of the nuclear fuel cycle, the U.S. and Russian National Academies of Sciences concluded that it is not possible today to construct an entire, operational international fuel...

Meeting the challenge: U.S. Policy toward Iranian nuclear development; Bipartisan policy center, September 2008.(Reports of Note)
November 1, 2008... This report examines the threat posed by a nuclear weapons-capable Iran and the potential U.S. policy options for dealing with it. The report suggests that a "comprehensive approach should feature a new diplomatic strategy underpinned by...

Abolishing nuclear weapons.(Reports of Note)
November 1, 2008... As calls grow for eliminating nuclear weapons, George Perkovich, director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's nonproliferation program, and his colleague James Acton explore the challenges that must be met to achieve this goal....

Chemical weapons convention.(Treaty Update)
November 1, 2008... On Oct. 15, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), announced that a second member of the convention had...

On the calendar.(What's Ahead)(Calendar)
November 1, 2008... Nov. 13-14 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meeting of states-parties, Geneva. Nov. 19-20 Nuclear Suppliers Group consultative group meeting, Vienna. Nov. 24-28 Annual meeting of...

The United States, Israel, and Iran: defusing an "existential" threat.
November 1, 2008... Iran is an existential threat to Israel. This apocalyptic warning call has become a mantra continually repeated by virtually all Israeli leaders and defense officials and has been adopted by much of the U.S. national security establishment....

A new paradigm: shattering obsolete thinking on arms control and nonproliferation.(The Bush Legacy)
November 1, 2008... Challenging conventional thinking is rarely popular, even or perhaps especially when it is most needed. So it has been with the Bush administration's approach to arms control and nonproliferation issues. Determined to develop new approaches in...

Strategic collapse: the failure of the Bush nuclear doctrine.(The Bush Legacy)
November 1, 2008... Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in September that the Bush administration will leave the proliferation "situation... in far better shape than we found it." (1) If only this were true. Instead, Bush officials leave office like...

U.S., NK agree on draft verification plan.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
November 1, 2008... After nearly two months of deadlock and North Korean threats to undo denuclearization progress made over the last year, the United States announced Oct. 11 an agreement with North Korea on measures to verify Pyongyang's nuclear weapons...

Long-delayed arms sales to Taiwan announced.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
November 1, 2008... The Bush administration notified Congress Oct. 3 that it plans to sell more than $6.4 billion in military equipment to Taiwan, triggering sharp criticism from China, which believes that the move would violate bilateral assurances made by...

Nuclear deals adding up for South Asia.(ASIA AND AUSTRALIA)
November 1, 2008... Key nuclear suppliers wasted little time in offering their goods to India after a September waiver of international nuclear trade restrictions against that country. France and the United States swiftly signed bilateral nuclear cooperation...

Special report; Major exercise tests CTBT on-site inspections.(THE WORLD)(Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty)(Report)
November 1, 2008... SEMIPALAT1NSK, KAZAKHSTAN -- It was a clear and sunny day when the earth shook in Arcania. Several seismic stations that are part of the International Monitoring System (IMS) that is monitoring compliance with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty...

ElBaradei warns of nuclear trafficking threat.(THE WORLD)(Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency)
November 1, 2008... In an Oct. 27 statement to the UN General Assembly, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei warned that the potential that terrorists could acquire nuclear and radiological material "remains a grave threat."...

New global Nuclear Security institute formed.(THE WORLD)(World Institute for Nuclear Security)
November 1, 2008... On Sept. 29, former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the co-chairman of the private Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), announced the creation of the World Institute for Nuclear Security (WINS), which would bring together nuclear technicians, security...

Germany convicts Khan associate.(THE WORLD)(Pakistani nuclear official Abdul Qadeer Khan associate Gotthard Lerch)
November 1, 2008... On Oct. 16, German authorities sentenced German engineer Gotthard Lerch to five and one-half years in prison for his role in aiding Libya's nuclear program. Lerch, who was also fined $4.7 million by a Stuttgart court, shared sophisticated...

Hill adjusts Bush's proposed military spending.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(United States President George W. Bush)(Report)
November 1, 2008... As lawmakers rushed to leave Washington before November's general elections, they passed two bills setting new Pentagon spending policies and totals for fiscal year 2009, which began Oct. 1. They also extended the previous fiscal year's funding...

Reports fault U.S. anti-missile approach.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(report of the Institute for Defense Analyses)
November 1, 2008... Two recent reports found that U.S. anti-missile systems are being developed and fielded largely without long-term arrangements to operate them or sufficient input from the military services. Unless current practices change, the reports indicate...

U.S. Wields financial sanctions against Iran.(News ANALYSIS)(Report)
November 1, 2008... On Oct. 22, the Department of the Treasury levied financial sanctions against the Export Development Bank of Iran and three of its affiliates for their role in providing financial services to Iranian defense organizations suspected of...

Defense trade treaties stall in Congress.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
November 1, 2008... Congress adjourned in October without acting on proposed defense trade treaties inked in 2007 with Australia and the United Kingdom. Other presidentially directed adjustments in how the Department of State administers defense trade did...

GNEP membership grows, future uncertain.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(Global Nuclear Energy Partnership)
November 1, 2008... As the Bush administration winds down, its controversial Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) continues to win additional adherents abroad, but faces ongoing opposition at home. Bush administration officials have claimed that GNEP,...

Quick-reaction force contract awarded.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)
November 1, 2008... On Sept. 11, the Department of State awarded a contract for a private force that would be able to deploy anywhere in the world within 72 hours to assess dangers posed by explosive remnants of war (ERW). The force could then be tasked to clear...

NNSA reports progress in HEU removal.(THE UNITED STATES AND THE AMERICAS)(National Nuclear Security Administration reports on highly enriched uranium)
November 1, 2008... The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced Oct. 7 that it had completely removed U-S.-origin highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Germany as part of its Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI). With this action, the NNSA has...

Bush administration sets Russian arms talks.(EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION)(United States President George W. Bush)(Report)
November 1, 2008... With its time at the helm of U.S. nuclear policy dwindling, the Bush administration announced plans to discuss the expiring START agreement with Russia, which is pressing for a follow-on weapons-cutting treaty. But the outgoing Bush...

West may seek alternative sanctions on Iran.(THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA)
November 1, 2008... With an Oct. 20 discussion among the permanent members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and Germany demonstrating little chance of additional sanctions against Iran, some Western...

Book review: Space weaponization: aye or nay?(Harnessing the Heavens: National Defense Through Space)(The Politics of Space Security: Strategic Restraint and the Pursuit of National Interests)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Harnessing the Heavens: National Defense Through Space Edited by Paul G. Gillespie and Grant T. Weller, Imprint Publications, 2008, 235 pp. The Politics of Space Security: Strategic Restraint and the Pursuit of National Interests ...

Terrorism, War of Disease?: Unraveling the Use of Biological Weapons.
November 1, 2008... Terrorism, War of Disease?: Unraveling the Use of Biological Weapons Edited by Anne L. Clunan, Peter R. Lavoy, and Susan B. Martin, Stanford University Press, 2008, 328 pp. The book's many authors, from legal, scientific, governmental,...

The Long Shadow Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... The Long Shadow Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia Edited by Muthiah Alagappa, Stanford University Press, 2008, 542 pp. Editor Muthiah Alagappa, a distinguished senior fellow at the East-West Center, brings together...

Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2008... Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis Mike Chinoy, St. Martin's Press, New York, August 2008, 368 pp. Veteran CNN reporter Mike Chinoy recounts the struggles within the current administration to address North...