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.
Washington Post Editorial Board Gets It Wrong on Nuclear Reductions
On Saturday the Washington Post published a poorly reasoned editorial arguing that the Obama administration is misguided in pursuing further mutual nuclear weapons reductions with Russia because Vladimir Putin is, well, not a nice guy.
Does missile defense work?
North Korea’s December 2012 rocket launch and third nuclear test last week has prompted plenty of discussion about the appropriate scope of and funding levels for ballistic missile defense. In my February (2013) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists colu…
Former Hostages Call for Diplomacy to Prevent War & Nuclear Armed Iran
While Ben Affleck’s Oscar-nominated film Argo has refocused attention on the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, two former hostages argue that the lessons of the crisis are very relevant to modern U.S. policy toward Iran. As the U.S. restarts talks with Iran on February 26, former U.S. hostages Amb. Bruce Laingen and Amb. John Limbert are calling for sustained and comprehensive diplomacy to prevent war and an Iranian nuclear weapon.
The Banality of Unilateral Nuclear Cuts
Published on Time’s Battleland blog on February 15, 2013. Article summary below; read the full text here. U.S. nuclear weapons strategy remains largely based on a confrontation with the Soviet Union that no longer exists. There is an emerging bipartisan and military consensus that it is time for an updated strategy and that a smaller […]
