Missile Defense Phobia
Krasnodar is a beautiful region near the Black Sea which is justly famous for its black tea. It may become the home for Iskander tactical ballistic missiles, now that the Kremlin has pulled the plug on talks with the Obama…
Arms Control Wonk
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Who Wants Diplomacy on Iran?
Given the diplomatic fallout which began raining down with the pre-release of the IAEA board report on Iran to the P-5 at the beginning of November, I surmised then that there might be a chance that Russia would embellish a two-page offer which it floated to Iran this…
Plushkino Traffic Jam
This past August, a Russian TEL carrying an SS-25 ICBM broke down along a road in Russia, causing massive traffic jam. It made the news immediately, replete with images of the disabled TEL and angry locals stuck in the traffic…
Making Messes in Space
The only top-of-the-charts space-age instrumental was silenced by the highest yield US atmospheric test ever conducted. OK, I’m taking literary license. Readers of a certain age will recall Telstar, the satellite and the top-40 single. Telstar enabled the transmission of…
Aging and Assertion
Hard problems keep earning compound interest, but advanced age and distance from complexity can act as a wonderful solvent. Now that I qualify for Medicare, this syndrome bothers me less than hearing simple solutions from those who cannot use the…
Site F near Sabha
A Flash animation or video was embedded here. Flash no longer works in web browsers. I have been sort of amused that one news outlet after another keeps sending reporters to Site F near Sabha, where the Libyans store…
Deterrence Under Sequestration
Secretary of Defense Panetta has sent a heartburn letter to Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham that outlines a series of cuts to the US nuclear force that may occur under sequestration. Speaking about the totality of cuts — not…
Gerard C. Smith
“Gerry” Smith had the look of a bulldog wearing a well-tailored, pin-striped suit. No diplomat’s jaw seemed more able to take a solid punch. Ambassador Smith took more than his share during the first strategic arms limitation talks. The SALT…
At The Crossroads With Iran
An observer, who wishes to remain nameless, sends along this dispatch on the recent drumbeat to war with Iran: For some reason, everyone and his cousin are suddenly seized on the idea that there must be an urgent need to…
The Arms Crawl that Wasn’t
Ashley Tellis’ important book, India’s Emerging Nuclear Posture (2001), predicted an “arms crawl” instead of a nuclear arms race on the subcontinent. One major reason for Ashley’s benign assessment was that Indian decision makers “view their nuclear weapons primarily as…