On March11, Duyeon Kim published the following piece in The New York Times. South Korea’s development of nuclear weapons is not realistic, despite the demands made by a few conservative politicians whenever North Korea acts up. It would be a clear violation of international law that would sever political and economic relations with its closest […]
North Korea’s Third Nuclear Test: What Now?
Late on the night of Monday, February 11th, seismic detectors picked up signals of seismic activity in North Korea, measuring a 4.9 on the Richter scale. As Reuters pointed out, “North Korea is not prone to seismic activity.” Indeed, the tremors were an indication that North Korea had conducted the nuclear test it had been threatening for some time, in retaliation for sanctions placed against it after last December’s rocket launch.
North Korea’s new game
On Tuesday, February 12 (the night of Monday, February 11 in the U.S.), North Korea conducted its third nuclear test. While the test might seem like more of the same intermittent provocation from the “hermit kingdom,” there’s reason to believe that Nor…
Obama Addresses Key National Security Issues in State of the Union
“Lessening the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons usable materials is a vital national security and fiscal priority,” said Kingston Reif, director of non-proliferation programs at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. “There is an emerging bipartisan and military consensus that a significantly smaller stockpile would meet our security needs. In this time of economic uncertainty, further reductions with Russia could create significant cost savings that would free funding for higher priority security programs.”
Fact Sheet on the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT)
Part of President Obama’s ambitious arms control agenda is a fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT) that would ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons purposes. In this new factsheet, Kingston Reif and Madeleine Foley examine the purpose, background, politics, and challenges of the FMCT.