Arms Control Today

Additional Protocols As a Condition of Nuclear Supply

Fred McGoldrick ("The Road Ahead for Export Controls," January/February 2011) notes that an important outstanding item for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is to reach agreement on the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) additional protocol as a condition of new nuclear supply. Safeguards are an essential tool to resolve suspicions, to help states demonstrate to neighbors and the international community that they are meeting their treaty commitments.

Bioweapons Monitor 2010

According to the authors, the report is the first comprehensive public document that gives an overview of state behavior relating to life science and biotechnology industries relevant to creating biological weapons.

By the Numbers

China's Potential to Contribute to Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament

On nuclear disarmament, its declared policy is still that "[t]he two countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenals [i.e., Russia and the United States] bear special and primary responsibility for nuclear disarmament,"1 although China in fact has been engaged with other nuclear-weapon states on nuclear disarmament issues.2 It is time for China to take the next step and work with the other nuclear-weapon states to develop a formal negotiating forum in which they can discuss concrete steps t...

Correction

Ending Pakistan's Nuclear Addiction

On Feb. 28, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made another strong pitch at the CD directed at Pakistan to allow work finally to begin on the FMCT. [...] it does, U.S. and other diplomats are urging informal technical talks.

Funding for U.S. Nuclear Triad Set to Grow

According to the NNSA, the B61 LEP includes consideration of increasing safety, and improving the security and use control, and modifications could be employed to provide greater reliability; and components and materials with known compatibility and aging issues could be replaced, providing better alternatives.\n The GMD system, which is meant to protect the United States from limited long-range missile attack from Iran and North Korea, is funded at $1.16 billion in fiscal year 2012, down fro...

Iran's Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Capabilities: A Net Assessment

International Institute for Strategic Studies, February 2011 This report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies focuses on Iran's current nuclear capabilities and ambitions but also has sections detailing chemical and biological weapons capabilities and the history of Iran's nuclear program.

N. Korea Judged to Have More Enrichment Sites

Last November, Pyongyang showed former Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Siegfried Hecker a newly constructed enrichment plant containing about 2,000 centrifuges after announcing that it intended to build and fuel a small light-water nuclear power reactor. For years, Pyongyang denied pursuing uranium-enrichment capabilities despite widespread suspicions and public claims by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that North Korea received gas centrifuge technology from a nuclear smug...

Nato Posture Review Takes Shape

According to officials, the deterrence review is likely to be conducted by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's principal political body, and might be accompanied by a public diplomacy effort, including seminars that involve nongovernmental experts.

New Start in Force; Missile Defense Looms

Resolutions on the treaty passed by both legislatures, as well as recent statements by senior officials, indicate that the next round of bilateral arms reductions may be more complicated. Since New START was signed last April, the Obama administration has reiterated its interest in a follow-on round of negotiations with Russia to address further reductions in strategic nuclear weapons and, for the first time, tactical weapons and warheads in storage.

Nnsa Nonproliferation Spending Slated to Rise

The portion of the request related to disposition activities in Russia dropped significantly from the fiscal year 2011 request. Because Congress did not approve fiscal year 2011 funding for most U.S. government agencies before last Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2010, the federal government is now operating under a continuing resolution (CR), which will fund the government into March. According to a State Department statement at the time of the protocol's signing, the combined 68 metric t...

Notable Quotable

On the Calendar

P5 to Meet in Paris On Nuclear Transparency

According to a P5 statement issued after the September event, the group discussed issues relating to "confidencebuilding, verification and compliance challenges."

Pakistan's Nuclear Buildup Vexes Fmct Talks

Pakistan and other critics of the move by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), which now has 46 members, have argued that, because India now has access to the international nuclear market, it can purchase foreign uranium for its nuclear power reactors and therefore keep its limited domestic uranium reserves for its military program, potentially allowing it to field a larger nuclear arsenal. According to Akram, because such admission would allow India to enhance its own nuclear arsenal, "Pakist...

Proposed U.S. Arms Sales Reach New Heights

In 2008, notifications for the UAE included the first potential foreign sale of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system, for which a final contract may be signed later this year. A diplomatic controversy erupted in February after a package of helicopters and Patriot missiles to be shipped to Taiwan was presented to Congress following lengthy negotiations, despite the elimination of the diesel submarines and F16C/D fighter aircraft that were the heart of the original pr...

Steps Toward a Deal On Enhanced Safeguards for Iran's Nuclear Program

The Obama administration would not want to appear weak, especially in the lead-up to the 2012 presidential election. [...] the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) faces political constraints in that its leadership has to remain politically neutral while balancing the demands from developing and more technologically advanced states.

The Past and Future of the Ccw

Because of the contacts that the groups have to establish with nonstate actors that are often considered to be terrorist or criminal organizations, this approach has been criticized by some, despite the very significant results it has achieved. Conclusion Although and perhaps because the CCW is not very well known, its regime constitutes an important and unique tool in the development of humanitarian law. [...] it has been sucI cessful enough to attract interest and goodwill so that the thr...

Time for Leadership: South Korea and Nuclear Nonproliferation

The United States and countries in the region - China, japan, and North Korea in particular - follow events in South Korea carefully and try to shape its nuclear development. [...] nuclear technology is of specific concern when it is sold to volatile regions such as the Middle East - South Korea's key export market.

U.S. Moves Forward On Space Policy

The space strategy, which seeks to address a "strategic environment" that is "increasingly congested, contested, and competitive," details five interrelated approaches: responsibility, improved U.S. space capabilities, international cooperation, prevention and deterrence, and preparation to defeat attacks and operate in a "degraded environment." The State Department official indicated that attending such an experts meeting would be an appropriate step for the United States should it decide t...

U.S. Seeks Funds for Test Ban Monitoring

According to the Department of State, the United States is nearly $13 million in arrears because of outstanding amounts due for 2010.

U.S. Updates Iran Assessment

[...] Iran's decision-making on the nuclear issue "is guided by a cost-benefit approach, which offers the international community opportunities to influence Tehran," Clapper said. The nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, of which Iran is a member, recognizes a state's "inalienable right" to a peaceful nuclear energy program as long as non-nuclear-weapon state members abide by their commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons.

Uk Calls for International Cyber Conference

According to Lewis, such differences make it unlikely that the international community will agree to a convention in the near feature.

Unrest Complicates 2012 Middle East Meeting

Iraq under Saddam, Libya, Syria and Iran. [...] Israel has begun to show signs of a greater willingness to engage, although officials still refrain from expressing open support for the conference.