51 posts
Bill Arkin has published a new book, Code Names: Deciphering U.S. Military Plans, Programs and Operations in the 9/11 World that “identifies more than 3,000 code names and details the plans and missions for which they stand.” General Charles Horner,…
I started ArmsControlWonk.com in March 2004 for inchoate reasons. Over time, I’ve constructed an elaborate post-hoc rationalization for the site focusing on four goals: To report items of interest that wouldn’t make it into the New York Times, Place arms…
In May 2004, I blogged about three upcoming launches of concern: XSS-11, NFIRE and a classified Air Force payload. At least two, and possibly all three, have been delayed. Here is an update. Experimental Spacecraft System (XSS)-11. The successor to…
Whereas Condi’s confirmation hearing was largely theater (16-2), the upcoming confirmation hearing for Secretary of Energy nominee Samuel Bodman (right) offers a real opportunity to resolve an enigma for Senate Democrats. Bodman is a chemical engineer with no background in…
Lest we forget: Hiroshima Peace Memorial (source) Does the United States need the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP)—a new 1 MT bunker busting nuclear weapon? After dueling op-eds on that question and the future of the nuclear deterrent by Frank…
Zhao announced China would no longer support proliferation during a toast. Xinhua confirms. The obituaries will focus on Zhao’s support for domestic political reform in China as Premier (1980-1987) and General Secretary of the CCP (1987-1989). As premier, Zhao also…
The National Intelligence Council has released a new report, Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council’s 2020 Project, that leads with this doozy: China will overtake Russia and others as the second largest defense spender after the…
After a 13 December 2004 meeting of the EU3-Iran “Steering Group” (right) that Javiar Solana called “more symbolic than substantive,” Iran-EU working groups began to deal substantively with three issue baskets: economic-technical, political-security and nuclear cooperation. (Paul summarized the working…
One approach to existential threats. A conversation I had yesterday with an esteemed arms control expert, as well as this article by my colleague Wade Boese, reminded me to write about a subject I’ve been thinking about recently. While it…
