By Daryl G. Kimball
As the administration of President Barack Obama works to complete the congressionally mandated Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by early 2010, it is clear to most that yesterday’s nuclear doctrines are no longer appropriate for today’s realities.
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Change U.S. Nuclear Policy? Yes, We Can.
Building Up the Regime for Verifying the CTBT
By Ambassador Tibor Tóth
Over the last decade, considerable progress has been made in building up the unique verification regime of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to monitor the globe for nuclear explosions.
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Can This Treaty Be Saved? Breaking the Stalemate on Conventional Forces in Europe
By Wolfgang Zellner
Overshadowed by more pressing issues—Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and global terrorism—European security relations with Russia have deteriorated dramatically since the late 1990s. Over the last 10 years, European security policy has been increasingly dominated by unilateral and frequently confrontational approaches.
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Breakthrough and Breakdown at the Conference on Disarmament: Assessing the Prospects for an FM(C)T
By Paul Meyer
The May 29 adoption of a program of work by the Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva marked the first time in 11 years that the 65-member body had taken such action. That step was a cause for celebration as it appeared to open the door to the negotiation of a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
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Robert McNamara’s Logical Legacy
By J. Peter Scoblic
When Robert S. McNamara, the former secretary of defense and so-called architect of the Vietnam War, died this summer at the age of 93, he left behind a fraught legacy.
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Burnishing Reagan’s Disarmament Credentials
By Paul Boyer
The husband-and-wife team of Martin and Annelise Anderson has established a cottage industry of producing works enhancing Ronald Reagan’s image. The truly Herculean labors of the Andersons, who are based at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, have already given us Reagan in His Own Hand (2001), a selection of the future president’s radio talks; Reagan: A Life in Letters (2004); Reagan’s Path to Victory: The Shaping of Ronald Reagan’s Vision (2004); Stories in His Own Hand: The Everyday Wisdom of Ronald Reagan (2007); and Reagan in His Own Voice, a three-CD set of the radio talks.
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African NWFZ Treaty Enters Into Force
By Cole Harvey
Burundi became the 28th country to ratify the 1996 Treaty of Pelindaba July 15, meeting the pact’s requirement for entry into force and creating a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in Africa. The treaty prohibits the possession, development, manufacture, testing, or deployment of nuclear weapons on the African continent and associated islands.
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Arms Collection Begins in Southern Sudan
By Emma Ensign
Authorities in Sudan have begun a series of weapons collection programs aimed at increasing security in the semiautonomous southern region of the country as part of an effort to increase stability there prior to national elections scheduled for April. The disarmament campaigns, which require civilians and the military to give up small arms, are mandated by a 2005 peace agreement. But the financial and political weakness of southern Sudan’s government has led some observers to question its ability to carry out the campaigns successfully, in spite of assistance from the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
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Iran Grants Reactor Access to IAEA
Peter Crail
Iran last month accepted long-standing requests by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for greater access to two key nuclear facilities, diplomatic sources said in August. The move appears to represent a shift in Iran’s willingness to cooperate with the agency, which has expressed increasing concern with Tehran’s lack of transparency on certain activities.
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South Korea Attempts First Space Launch
By Peter Crail
South Korea carried out its inaugural space launch attempt Aug. 25, seeking for the first time to place a satellite in orbit using its own rocket. South Korean officials described the launch as “partially successful,” as the on-board satellite overshot its intended orbit. South Korea is planning another attempt next year, Education and Science Minister Ahn Byong-man said at a press conference following the unsuccessful orbit.
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UN Adds North Korea to Sanctions List
By Peter Crail
In a key step aimed at implementing a June sanctions resolution against North Korea, the UN Security Council blacklisted 10 North Korean organizations and individuals connected to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs July 16. Security Council Resolution 1874, passed June 12, directed council members to take steps toward identifying North Korean entities and persons that would be subject to the financial restrictions, asset freezes, and travel restrictions outlined in the resolution. (See ACT, July/August 2009.) The council adopted that measure in response to North Korea’s May 25 nuclear test, building on a 2006 sanctions resolution adopted in response to Pyongyang’s first nuclear test.
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India Launches First Nuclear Submarine
By Peter Crail and Eben Lindsey
India launched its first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine July 26, paving the way for initiating the third leg of its planned nuclear “triad.” The vessel, named the Arihant (Destroyer of Enemies) is the first nuclear-powered submarine of any type that India has developed and constitutes the first undersea-based component of New Delhi’s nuclear delivery capabilities. India is only the sixth country to develop a nuclear-powered submarine after the United States, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and China.
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India, U.S. Agree on Defense Trade Monitoring
By Jeff Abramson and Daniel Horner
India and the United States have agreed on an end-use monitoring arrangement that will make it easier for India to acquire advanced U.S. defense equipment, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna announced at a joint press appearance with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Delhi July 20.
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UK Revokes Arms Export Licenses to Israel
By Rachel A. Weise
Following public outcry from British citizens and members of Parliament, the United Kingdom in July revoked five licenses for the export of arms components to Israel. The British decision could encourage other European Union (EU) members to review their current Israel export policy, a European Commission (EC) official said. According to a British government official, an EU working group will meet in Brussels Sept. 4 to discuss exports to Israel.
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Race Is On for New Head of OPCW
By Oliver Meier
Seeking to avoid the rifts that marked its 2002 election of a director-general, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) member states are aiming to choose a new head at a meeting next month.
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UN Conventional Arms Register Falters
By Jeff Abramson
A group of governmental experts examining a UN list of imports and exports of major conventional weapons has failed to agree to add an official category for small arms and light weapons to that annual record, sources familiar with the discussions said. The setback likely means that the UN Register of Conventional Arms will not see significant improvements in participation until after the next triennial meeting of experts in 2012.
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G-8 Tightens Nuclear Export Rules
By Daniel Horner
The members of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized countries agreed to adopt new rules for sensitive nuclear exports, according to a statement released during the group’s July 8-10 summit in L’Aquila, Italy. Subsequent remarks by officials from some of the G-8 countries regarding trade with India, however, seem to be at odds with the G-8 statement.
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IAEA Budget Gets Modest Boost
By Peter Crail
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors voted Aug. 3 for a rare hike in the agency’s budget, raising its 2010 budget to $453 million. That rise represents a 2.7 percent real increase above the 2009 budget, on top of a 2.7 percent increase to adjust for inflation. The 5.4 percent hike is half the 11 percent increase sought by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei. A preliminary estimate for 2011 includes an 11.4 percent increase over the agency’s 2010 budget. That figure is first subject to consideration by a working group the board established to assess the agency’s resources, priorities, and budgets up to 2013.
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Nuclear Security Summit Planned for March
By Daniel Horner
The United States will host a nuclear security summit in Washington next March, the White House announced July 8.
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Administration Pushes to Finish “New START”
By Tom Z. Collina
U.S. and Russian negotiators are set to meet this month as part of an effort to wrap up negotiations by December on a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia, administration officials said recently.
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Pentagon Defends Planned Arms Cuts
By Tom Z. Collina
Responding to criticism that the START follow-on treaty, or New START, should wait until the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is completed early next year, the Pentagon announced in August that the U.S. negotiating positions for New START had been cleared by the NPR interagency process.
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Veto Threat Spurs F-22 Cuts
By Emma Ensign
Under a threat by President Barack Obama to use his veto power for the first time, Congress has taken steps to cut spending for additional F-22 fighter jets.
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Air Force Creates New Global Strike Command
By Rachel A. Weise
Citing a lack of “clear lines of authority and responsibility” in its organizational structure, the U.S. Air Force last month announced it was establishing a new Global Strike Command to oversee all of its nuclear forces.
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Export Control Review Launched
By Jeff Abramson
The White House last month announced it was launching a major review of the U.S. export control system, and the chairman of a key congressional committee said he hoped to introduce new legislation at the beginning of next year that would replace a central component of that system.
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Process for Nuclear Pacts Flawed, GAO Says
by Daniel Horner
The process of preparing the government’s nonproliferation assessment for proposed nuclear cooperation agreements is flawed and should be improved through better interagency coordination and the adoption of written procedures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report released in late July.
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