Arms Control Today

Editor's Note

Comings and Goings

At the CIA, John Kringen, head of the crime and narcotics center, has been chosen to succeed Jami A. Miscik as deputy director for intelligence, responsible for overseeing the agency's analytical work.

What's Ahead On the Calendar

Fuel Cycle Recommendations

The experts said, "The objective of increasing nonproliferation assurances associated with the civilian nuclear fuel cycle, while preserving assurances of supply and services around the world, could be achieved through a set of [five] gradually introduced multilateral nuclear approaches (MNA)."

Bombs, Carrots, and Sticks: The Use of Incentives and Sanctions

Policymakers frequently turn to sanctions as a middle option between diplomacy and military action, as a means of advancing nonproliferation goals without incurring the risks of combat. North Korean leader Kim Jong II has indicated his willingness to negotiate restrictions on Pyongyang's weapons programs if President George W. Bush would lift sanctions, resume direct talks, and issue a nonaggression pledge.

U.S. Sanctions Asian Firms for Iran Deals

The Bush administration continues to use sanctions on Asian entities, primarily those from China, to punish past deals and dissuade future transactions with Iran that could aid its development of weapons of mass destruction or missiles.

Modest Hike in Threat Reduction Budget

The proposed budget would be $132 million, or 200 percent more than the previous fiscal year, and would enable the Energy Department to provide replacement fossil fuel plants to halt plutonium production by 2011. Also in the administration's 2006 request, the Russian Transition Initiatives, a program that redirects former weapons scientists into peaceful enterprises and converts nuclear facilities to civilian uses, would become the Global Initiative for Proliferation Prevention (GIPP) to all...

Ground-Based Interceptor Fails Again

For the second consecutive time, a test of President George W. Bush's fledgling ground-based missile defense system failed because the long-range missile interceptor did not fire. Still, the Pentagon has deployed six of these interceptors to Fort Greely, Alaska, and two more to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to serve as the initial elements of the president's proposed multilayered missile defense.

North Korea Nuclear Talks in Limbo

A congressional source familiar with the issue told Arms Control Today Feb. 24 that Pyongyang had told Washington through multiple diplomatic channels that it wanted Bush to make a positive statement about the North Korean regime during his Feb. 2 State of the Union Address. [...] a high-ranking North Korean diplomat told a former State Department official Feb. 11 that North Korea wants Bush to state publicly that Washington will accept "peaceful coexistence" with Pyongyang, the official tol...

Iraq Weapons Hunt Ends; Other Investigations Continue

The Bush administration has essentially wrapped up its investigation of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs and of the failure to find significant stockpiles of such weapons after the U.S.-led invasion of that country in March 2003. Before the U.S.-led invasion, Bush administration officials claimed that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons and had an active nuclear weapons program.

U.S. Chemical Demilitarization Stalls

The United States may miss a key international deadline for destroying chemical weapons because of budget shortfalls affecting the destruction of stockpiles at two sites, the Department of Defense told lawmakers privately in January. Last April, Dale E. Klein from the Office of the Assistant to the secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense told a congressional subcommittee that following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Army had considered a variety of options, including tra...

Congress Seeks Nonproliferation Measures

Assistant secretary of State for Arms Control Stephen Rademaker last October urged Russia to provide more information about its tactical nuclear weapons arsenal. (see ACT, November 2004.)

Letters to the Editor

Recent editions of Chinese Military Power (Department of Defense, 2004) and Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat (National Air and Space Intelligence Center, 2003) make clear that U.S. intelligence experts do not consider China's JL-I SLBM deployed. If these types of nuclear weapons are removed from the estimate, the Chinese nuclear force would be judged as comprising approximately 18 DF-5 ICBMs, 12 DF-4 intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), and 45 DF-3 and DF-21 medium-range ballist...

In Brief

Twenty Years Ago in Act: Strengthening National Security

Notable Quotable

By the Numbers

Focus

Reinforce the Nonproliferation Bargain

When the states-parties meet for the treaty's seventh review conference this May, they must not only reaffirm the legal and political objectives established by the NPT and previous review conferences, but also resolve differences blocking agreement on a balanced and effective action plan to advance nonproliferation and disarmament. According to the findings of a new report from an expert panel convened by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei, a number ...

In The News

The Fiscal Tug of War

President George W. Bush Feb. 7 sent Congress a $2.57 trillion federal budget request for fiscal year 2006, kicking off an annual debate on arms control, security, and nonproliferation priorities. The following pages explore the most controversial budget issues: funding for nuclear weapons, missile defense, and threat reduction activities.

The Middle East And Africa

Europeans: Iran Honoring Agreement

According to Defense Intelligence Agency Director Admiral Lowell Jacoby's Feb. 16 statement to the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, Iran will likely be able to produce nuclear weapons early next decade "unless constrained by a nuclear nonproliferation agreement." The European governments, as well as the United States, are concerned that Iran intends to produce highly enriched uranium, which can serve as fissile material for nuclear weapons. According to the official ItarTass news agenc...

Iaea: Egypt's Reporting Failures 'Matter of Concern'

IAEA safeguards agreements require states-parties to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to disclose certain civilian nuclear activities. ElBaradei's report also states that Egypt contracted with a "foreign company" in the late 1970s to build a pilot plant for conducting experiments involving the separation of plutonium and uranium from irradiated reactor fuel.

Middle East Nuclear Forum Postponed

A scheduled forum to discuss established nuclear-weapon-free zones and their possible relevance to creating such a zone in the Middle East has been postponed as Israel and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continue to hash out guidelines for the meeting. Israel, which is not a party to the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), officially remains silent on the question of whether it possesses nuclear weapons, although it is generally recognized as having such an arsenal.

The United States And The Americas

State Department Reorganization Approved

An internal Feb. 9 State Department memo informed employees that secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had approved in principle combining the arms control and nonproliferation bureaus.

Bush Second Term: More Diplomacy but Same Policies

President George W. Bush has assembled a second-term foreign policy team whose views on arms control and nonproliferation issues are not expected to budge significantly from their predecessors. The continuity of foreign policy views is apparent in Bush's choices for the top national security posts. secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had served as Bush's national security adviser, secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has retained his job, and new national security adviser Steven Hadley had s...

The World

Elbaradei Unopposed for Third Term

The Bush administration's efforts to block Mohamed ElBaradei from a third term as director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) appear to be falling short because of the U.S. failure to recruit a suitable alternative, according to Western and developing country diplomats. ElBaradei also found himself caught in a political crossfire when an Iraqi letter to the IAEA became public in the final days of last year's U.S. presidential election campaign.

Fissile Material Treaty Dispute Prolongs Conference On Disarmament Deadlock

Last year, the United States announced that it no longer viewed as "effectively verifiable" a proposed fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT), which would prohibit the production of highly enriched uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons purposes. Assistant secretary of State for Verification and Compliance Paula DeSutter told Arms Control Today Feb. 7 that the United States is "not saying 'no verification.'" She made clear, however, that the United States would not subscribe to negotiation...

Books Of Note

Ronald Reagan and His Quest to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

Preventing Nuclear Meltdown: Managing Decentralization of Russia's Nuclear Complex

The Russian Military: Power and Policy

Nor has Russia really updated its national security doctrine; nuclear weapons continue to play a key role and its overall forces are geared up for an all-out war with the West rather than the threats it faces from terrorism and regional conflicts.

Europe And The Former Soviet Union

Small Gains On Bush's Europe Trip

Removing Iraq as an irritant in transatlantic relations and winning increased European contributions to post-war Iraq reconstruction and training of Iraqi security forces was a clear priority of the president's Feb. 20-24 trip, and he succeeded to some degree. By a 411-3 vote, the House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution Feb. 2 urging the EU to retain its embargo and warning that a different decision could put at risk U.S.-European defense trade and joint military projects.

Treaty Update

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (Ctbto)