Arms Control Today articles from September 2001

Arms Control Today archives from September 2001

The Rogue Elephant.(United States military and foreign policy)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... To much of the world, the United States is emerging as an irrational rogue state that is increasingly out of step with the rest of the international community. The starkest example of a growing U.S. unilateralism and undisguised contempt for...

The Alaska Test Bed Fallacy: Missile Defense Deployment Goes Stealth.
September 1, 2001... Analysis shows that some of the planned Alaska facilities would have no utility in a testing program but rather appear designed specifically as a near-term missile defense deployment. The Bush administration has proposed building a set of...

Offense, Defense, and Unilateralism In Strategic Arms Control.
September 1, 2001... U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have both spoken out in the last year on the idea of unilateral reductions in strategic nuclear forces. During his election campaign, Bush let it be known that he preferred to...

Rushing to Weaponize the Final Frontier.
September 1, 2001... The military advantages of the United States being the first country to place weapons in space could be easily outweighed by the long-term political and security costs. For nearly 40 years, there has been a gentlemen's agreement among the...

Bush Team Unveils Missile Defense Plans; Democrats Upset.
September 1, 2001... THROUGHOUT JULY, THE Bush administration sketched out details of its proposed $8.3 billion ballistic missile defense testing program. But getting its plans fully funded will require winning over Senate Democrats who have severely criticized the...

KEENY RETIRES; KIMBALL NEW ACA DIRECTOR.(Arms Control Association; Spurgeon M. Keeny Jr.; Daryl G. Kimball)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr. retired September 1 as executive director of the Arms Control Association, a position he had held since 1985. He is succeeded by Daryl G. Kimball, who joins ACA after serving as executive director of the Coalition to...

U.S.-Russian Differences Remain On Missile Defenses, ABM Treaty.
September 1, 2001... DESPITE A FLURRY of summer meetings between top U.S. and Russian officials on offensive and defensive strategic forces, Moscow remains unconvinced by U.S. arguments to abandon the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which proscribes nationwide...

Bush Administration Aims To Get Rid of ABM Treaty.
September 1, 2001... ALTHOUGH SOME BUSH administration officials have claimed that the administration has not ruled out amending the AntiBallistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to permit U.S. ballistic missile defenses, most official statements over the summer have made...

White House to Partially Fund Test Ban Implementing Body.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION has decided to partially fund the organization responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); and officials say that, despite their opposition to the treaty, they have no plans to work toward...

BWC Protocol Talks in Geneva Collapse Following U.S. Rejection.(Biological Weapons Convention)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS IN Geneva to conclude a protocol to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) collapsed this summer after the United States rejected the protocol in late July, casting uncertainty over the talks' future. BWC...

Missile Defense Interceptor Hits Target, But Not All Perfect in Test.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... MORE THAN A year after the last test of its proposed strategic missile defense system failed, the Pentagon succeeded July 14 in destroying a target warhead in space, though a key radar suffered a software glitch. Marking the second hit in...

Bush Seeks Cuts in Pentagon Threat Reduction Programs.(nuclear disarmament assistance to Russia)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION is seeking reduced funding for Pentagon programs that assist former Soviet states in dismantling and securing weapons of mass destruction. The Bush proposal would cut some programs while expanding others, but senior...

Outgoing Nuclear Chief Counsels Caution on Strategic Reductions.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... AS THE BUSH administration prepares to make significant changes to U.S. nuclear forces, the country's most senior military official in charge of those forces counseled caution in implementing deep reductions and criticized de-alerting...

Washington to Sanction China, Pakistan for Missile Cooperation.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION announced September 1 that it will levy sanctions on a Chinese company for shipping missile equipment to a Pakistani firm in violation of a pledge Beijing made last November. China's privately owned Metallurgical...

Russia Has Mixed Success With CFE Implementation.(Conventional Armed Forces in Europe)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... RUSSIA SHOWED MIXED success in July toward meeting commitments under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and related agreements, missing a July 1 deadline to vacate a military base in Georgia but reducing the number of weapons...

Administration May Abandon Plutonium Disposition Project.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION is reportedly considering pulling out of a troubled U.S.-Russian project to make substantial quantities of military plutonium unusable for weapons purposes. Citing unnamed sources, The New York Times reported August...

Russia Approves New Chemical Weapons Destruction Plan.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER Mikhail Kasyanov approved a resolution July 5 to overhaul Moscow's existing 1996 plan to destroy its chemical weapons. The new scheme would require an extension of the Chemical Weapons Convention's (CWC) deadlines but...

UN Small Arms Conference Approves Modest Plan.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... CONCLUDING A UN conference July 21, more than 140 nations achieved compromise on a non-binding plan to curb the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons, after relenting to U.S. demands to trim measures Washington opposed. Beginning...

United States Weakens Outcome of UN Small Arms and Light Weapons Conference.
September 1, 2001... FROM JULY 9 to 21, the United Nations served as the battleground for the first global meeting on the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons. Countries came together in New York to develop an international action plan to deal with this...

Russia Blocks Reform of Iraq Sanctions Regime.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... IN A MAJOR setback for the Bush administration, a Russian veto threat in late June forced the UN Security Council to set aside a sweeping reform of the Iraq sanctions regime. Instead, on July 3, the council unanimously approved a five-month...

U.S. Continues to Lead in World Arms Exports.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... THE UNITED STATES remained the pre-eminent seller in the global arms market last year, according to data in an annual arms-export report released August 16 by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). During 2000, the United States accounted...

United States Sells Missiles to Thailand.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... In early July, the State Department approved the sale of an undisclosed number of AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) to Thailand. But the Pentagon will not deliver the missiles unless another Asian country acquires a...

Countries Conclude Balkan Talks.(Balkan peace talks)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... On July 18,20 countries, including the United States, wrapped up more than two years of troubled negotiations aimed at bolstering confidence and security-building measures among states in and around the war-tom Balkans. However, the talks'...

African States Extend Light Weapons Moratorium.(Economic Community of West African States)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... A group of 15 West African states announced July 6 a three-year extension of their moratorium on the export, import, and manufacture of light weapons. The light weapons moratorium, agreed upon by the Economic Community of West African States...

Pentagon Clarifies South Asia Nuclear Policy.
September 1, 2001... Remarks that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made in June were not intended to suggest that the Bush administration had shifted away from the Clinton administration's goal of seeking nuclear disarmament in South Asia, the Pentagon has...

Bush Team Shies From Clinton Landmine Policy.(anti-personnel landmine ban)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... In its ongoing review of U.S. landmine policy, the Bush administration appears to be distancing itself from then-President Bill Clinton's statement that by 2006 the United States might sign the Ottawa Convention, a treaty banning anti-personnel...

Israel Cancels Radar Deal With China.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent a letter in July to Chinese President Jiang Zemin informing him that Israel would not reconsider its decision to halt the sale of a sophisticated radar system to Beijing. Israel will begin negotiations...

Iran-Libya Sanctions Act Renewed.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... President George W. Bush signed a bill August 3 to renew the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) for five years. Set to expire August 5, five years after it became law, ILSA seeks to punish entities for investing in Iranian or Libyan petroleum...

NATO Collects Weapons in Macedonia.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... On August 27, NATO launched a mission to collect 3,300 weapons that ethnic Albanian rebels in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia agreed to surrender in exchange for expanded political rights. The mission, known as Operation Essential...

Putin Approves Spent-Fuel Import Legislation.(Vladamir Putin; spent nuclear fuel)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a controversial set of laws July 11 allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel. The most significant measure overrides an existing environmental ban on the import of foreign spent fuel for storage or...

Bush Waives Nuclear Sanctions Against Pakistan.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... On August 13, President George W Bush granted a one-time waiver of sanctions that had been imposed on Pakistan for its nuclear activities. The waiver allows the United States to sell spare parts for Cobra helicopters and armored personnel...

Last Minuteman III Missile Silo Destroyed.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... On August 24, the United States destroyed its last Minuteman III missile silo slated for dismantlement under START I. Demolition of the silo, located at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota, takes Washington one step closer to meeting an...

Moscow Seeks Five-Way 'Strategic Stability' Talks.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... During a July 1-3 summit in Russia with French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested holding multilateral "strategic stability" talks, at which further U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear warhead cuts could be...

North Korea Refuses to Resume Talks With U.S.(nuclear weapons talks)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... North Korea has continued to reject U.S. offers to resume bilateral discussions, which could include nuclear, missile, and conventional weapons issues. At a July 26 press conference in Hanoi, Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed a...