by Kingston Reif Published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Online on July 14, 2011 Article summary below; read the full text online By Kingston Reif and Emma Lecavalier In a recent speech in Brussels, departing Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized European members of NATO for allowing defense obligations to fall increasingly upon the […]
A Review of the Senate Armed Services Committee Version of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization Bill
by Kingston Reif and Laicie Heeley On June 16 the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253). The committee approved $682.5 billion, including $553 billion for the Pentagon base budget, $117.8 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $18.1 billion for Department of Energy nuclear programs. […]
Tactical Nuclear Weapons and Korea
by Duyeon Kim The buzz word is increasingly “tactical nuclear weapons” whenever North Korea unleashes provocations. It buzzed again earlier this year when President Obama’s Weapons of Mass Destruction policy coordinator Gary Samore said that Washington would reintroduce U.S. tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea upon Seoul’s request. Citing his personal views in response to […]
Heritage Foundation Fails Test on another Treaty
by Kingston Reif Uncowed by its failure to convince the U.S. Senate and the American public to oppose the New START treaty, the Heritage Foundation is trying to gin up opposition to another international treaty that would greatly benefit U.S. national security: the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The CTBT prohibits all nuclear test explosions […]
Summary of the House Appropriations Committee Version of the FY 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill
by Kingston Reif On June 15 the House Appropriations Committee marked up (i.e. wrote) the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. The bill passed Committee by a vote of 26-20. Every Democrat except Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Ranking Member Pete Visclosky (D-IN) opposed the bill. The full committee draft and the […]