All of the significant gains in the field of arms control were the result of stubborn optimism mixed with idealism. Pessimists thought nuclear arms control was a fool’s errand, bound to end very badly, like naval arms control in the 1920s and 1930s. It was preposterous to think that the superpowers could agree to refrain …
Will Gravity Lift the Space Code of Conduct?
by | 2013-11-11 | 12 Comments
Space may be the final frontier, but it’s also the cosmic dust that we’re made of. Our lineage traces back to seawater, as well. Is that why we humans stare out into space and the ocean? Two wordless and magnificent movie scenes book-end our connection to the cosmos. The first, as you probably figured, is …
Some Think Size Matters
by | 2013-11-04 | 36 Comments
A few weeks ago — ok, maybe longer — I commented on an interesting proposal (that I nevertheless disagree with) by Crispin Rovere and Kalman Robertson to prohibit low yield nuclear weapons. I agued (“Size Doesn’t Matter“) that I didn’t agree with the problem as framed, didn’t think the treaty could be verified and, in …
Conflicting Blueprints
by | 2013-11-04 | 8 Comments
Sometimes it helps to frame choices about familiar subjects in different ways. By way of prologue – and to dust off the arguments in my book, Better Safe than Sorry (2009) – here’s another way to think about future arms control choices: The global system created over many decades to prevent nuclear proliferation can be …
