The M Word
I don’t have much to add to Page’s excellent post and Foreign Policy article on the politics of stockpile “modernization”, other than to repeat my suggestion that we all stop using the “M” word — modernization: I wish, by the…
2010
317 posts
Nuclear Optimism
No country has been more optimistic about the atom than India. Most Indians believe in nuclear energy and in the ability of their nuclear establishment to deliver it efficiently and cheaply. Indian strategic analysts tend to be extremely confident, which…
Now We’re Just Negotiating The Price
It appears that several Republicans — including Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) — have been hinting that they will vote for the New START treaty, if only the Obama Administration were to add another $10 billion to its $80 billion request…
Modernization and New START
A couple of weeks ago, word got around that Senator Kyl was taking a group of fellow Republican Senators on a field trip to visit LANL and Sandia National Labs as part of their decision-making process regarding whether or not…
Some Straight Talk About Iran
After reading Jeffrey Goldberg’s lengthy article in The Atlantic about Israeli calculations on whether to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, I’m left with an observation and a judgment. First, the observation. We’re being ushered into an unusual conversation here. Months before…
All Good Things…
…must eventually come to an end. I have enjoyed writing for ArmsContolWonk.com very much and it has been one of the more satisfying professional experiences I have had. Unfortunately, at least for me, this post will be my last. I…
Organizations, Accidents, and Nuclear Weapons
Readers may recall an earlier post about Vasili Alexandrovich Arkipov and the Cuban missile crisis. Arkipov was one of three officers on board the Soviet diesel sub B-59 who voted on whether to fire their nuclear-tipped torpedo while being depth…
PPNT 2010
I just returned from the three week course on Public Policy and Nuclear Threats at the IGCC school at University of California San Diego in La Jolla. Jeffrey made mention of the course back in March. It was a wonderful…
Did Syria Admit to Bio-Weapons?
Over at ForeignPolicy.com, David Hoffman examines biological weapons and the Biological Weapons Convention through the lens of the State Department’s 2010 Compliance Report. (There’s a lot to say about this, but here’s the bottom line: if you want to know…
DF-21 Delta: Some Early Thoughts
The so-called DF-21D is much in the news recently, mostly because it hasn’t shown up yet. It is reputed to be the anti-ship version of China’s short-range workhorse, the DF-21. (China uses some version or other of the DF-21 for…