An update on arms control, national security & politics from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
Briefing Congress on a Bloated Budget
Last week, the president unveiled the largest defense base budget request in the history of the Pentagon, blowing right past the sequestration caps. This can only mean one thing: tough choices lie ahead for Congress.
Ignorance: the Greatest Obstacle to Overcome in Reaching a Deal with Iran
As negotiations to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran hang in the balance, former Congressman from Kansas Jim Slattery sat down with Barbara Slavin, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, to discuss Slattery’s recent trip to Tehran and his perspective of the current negations with a focus on the person-to-person aspect of the U.S.-Iran relationship. His insights provide a valuable glimpse into the atmosphere on the ground in Iran at this critical time.
US-Russia Arms Control Treaty- New START 4th Anniversary
Last week marked the 4 year anniversary of New START, the most recent arms control treaty responsible for further reductions to the bloated nuclear arsenals of both the United States and Russia. The treaty is a landmark agreement, demonstrating the value of diplomacy and the ability to increase security while simultaneously reducing both nuclear weapons and spending.
A Retroactive Justification for Obama’s Nobel
Jon Stewart, on his February 5th episode of the Daily Show, doled out both criticism and support to the main-players of the P5+1 Iran nuclear negotiations. Stressing the importance of the agreement to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, Stewart opened with a backhanded compliment to the president: “eliminating the threat of a nuclear Iran while bringing it into the community of nations would be an enormous achievement, just the sort of thing to retroactively justify a Nobel Peace Prize.”
