North Korea has experienced extreme isolation from the world since Kim Il-Sung proclaimed himself as the Prime Minister in 1948, the same year South Korea declared statehood. Labeled by the international community as a totalitarian regime that oppresses its citizens, North Korea has long flouted international rules and norms, including human rights and nonproliferation under the Kim Jong-Il regime, the son of Kim Il-sung. But when Kim Jong-Il died in December 2011, his twenty-something son, Kim Jong-Un, took the reins. Since then, North Korea watchers have pointed to interesting changes in the country, though the significance and implications of these changes are difficult to discern.
Politifact Quotes Kingston Reif on NDAA
Funding is there for updating warheads by Molly Moorhead Politifact Some Republicans in the House of Representatives have been at odds with each other over this pledge. But the bottom line is that nuclear weapon upgrades and maintenance are being funded. Click here to read the rest of the article.
Rand Paul (Still) Pushing for Pakistani Aid Cutoff, and It’s (Still) a Bad Idea
For several months now, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has been pushing for the United States to cut off foreign aid to Pakistan, which amounted to just over $2 billion in 2012. This week, as conservative Republicans propose a rethinking of aid to Egypt and Libya in the wake of anti-American attacks there, Paul is hoping to finally get a vote on his Pakistan proposal.
Prague, revisited
In my September Bulletin column I assess President Obama’s record on nuclear threat reduction during his first term in office. Here’s the intro: Few national security issues are as important to President Barack Obama as reducing the threat posed by nuc…
20 Years Later A-Bomb Still ‘Sum of All Fears’
Over 20 years ago the Iron Curtain fell, the Soviet Union dissolved and the world breathed a sigh of relief knowing the Cold War was over. Believing that nuclear war would not likely begin at a moment’s notice, people felt safer and more secure. But now, the threats of new countries building nuclear weapons, nuclear terrorism and insecure nuclear stockpiles have made it strikingly clear that the dangers of nuclear weapons remain, 67 years after the advent of the atomic bomb.
