Scare Tactics
Money is the mother’s milk of politics; motivation is the mother’s milk of the politics of treaty ratification. Arms control battles in the United States tend to be uneven fights — and not just because skeptics need only 34 votes…
Arms Control Wonk
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The Cooling Tower
I have a commentary over at 38 North about the political symbolism of North Korea’s construction/excavation activities near the ruins of the Yongbyon reactor’s cooling tower: What is clear is the political symbolism of the site itself. The Six Party…
Test Ban Wonkery: Streaming Live
Many years ago, I managed to convince VERTIC’s then Executive Director, Michael Crowley, to send me on a two day trip to Vienna just to meet with our friends at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. During those days,…
North Korean-Iranian Cooperation
Earlier this week, the appearance of an Iranian-style nosecone on a North Korean missile raised eyebrows all over the wonk-o-sphere. That the two countries cooperate in missile development is not exactly new news, but the images from Kim Il Sung…
Win, Lose or Draw?
Several chroniclers of The Bomb have concluded that the term “nuclear strategy” is an oxymoron. The dilemmas of crafting a nuclear strategy and planning to execute are best dealt with on paper. But even on paper, dilemmas are hard to…
Another North Korean Missile First
In all the hubbub over the Musudan IRBM (to say nothing of the artful illusion of hair) it was all too easy to miss that this weekend’s big parade in Pyongyang also featured the first appearance of at least one…
It’s a Comb-Over!
Holy cow. Kim Jong Il’s famous pompadour is a comb-over! Well, now we are sure it is not a wig. My guess is that the photographer from Iran’s Mehr News Agency doesn’t get another visa to North Korea. The much…
North Korea Debuts an IRBM
After a long wait, North Korea’s “Musudan” intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), a weapon with a reported range of 2,500 to 3,000 km, has made its first public appearance. Described as a copy of the Soviet R-27 submarine-launched ballistic missile (a.k.a.…
Another Kleine Brogel Bombspotting
So, I got a little note the other day from the Bombspotters: After we noticed our January filmed visit of Kleine Brogel airbase caused some interesting discussions, we have put some effort in a more extensive investigation. To our surprise…
Persistent Engagement and DPRK Transition
Paul Carroll sends along a very thoughtful note (also published on the Ploughshares website) about the perils of waiting for North Korea’s apparent leadership process to play out. Don’t get to clever, Paul suggests, because you just might miss your…