The internet is abuzz with the White House’s official, very amusing response to the online petitionto build a Death Star (This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For). (I will admit that I got a little silly myself on Twitter:…
Alain C. Enthoven wrote a book with K. Wayne Smith titled, How Much is Enough?, published by the RAND Corporation in 1971 and re-issued in 2005. Professor Enthoven has been asking this question his entire professional life, most recently about…
Yesterday morning here over a latte and a croissant–Kurfuerstendamm Ecke Schlueterstrasse–I got my ear bent by someone telling me that Israel and Western countries are now worried about the fate of 50 metric tons of uranium secretly stashed away in Syria. Reflecting for a couple of minutes after clicking off my…
Prospects for arms control in 2013 look bleak on most fronts, with a few important, potential exceptions. Prognostication is a fool’s game, since surprise – pleasant, but more often painful – comes with this territory, but here goes… In the…
This year’s contest elicited fewer entries than in the past, but they were of extremely high quality. Our semi-distinguished panel of judges pays homage to “barron” for remembering Prince’s lyrical plea to Ronald Reagan. “Ghost of ‘83” impressed with his…
The last time someone came up with a scheme to square the circle with Iran was back in 2010, and the leading actor was Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The “Lavrov Plan” never took off because the U.S. and European powers wouldn’t embrace it, for reasons including differences over how to handle orders to Iran from the United Nations…
Well, one thing I am not is a rocket scientist. David Wright has a nice review of some of the pieces of debris, though sadly he finished it before several more images (like the engine, above) hit the press. Here…
Shall we label 2012 as The Year of Waiting? The fourth year of a U.S. presidential term is usually marked by the absence of big initiatives and the presence of partisan gridlock. This year was no exception. Compound this with…
There was a minor dustup on Twitter between my colleague, Jon Wolfsthal, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Like many discussions on Twitter, 140 characters at a time just didn’t get the job done. At issue is an important article…
The Department of State’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance (which in any just universe would be abbreviated ACVC), in partnership with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) and the Center for Policy Studies (PIR) in Russia, is launching an essay contest. Here is…
