Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his key civilian advisers received the red-carpet treatment in Washington last week. The Prime Minister’s state visit — the first official trip of a Pakistani leader in a decade – including meetings with President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Kerry, Defense Secretary Hagel, NSC Adviser Rice and CIA Director Brennan. …
The IR-40 and Diplomacy
by | 2013-10-24 | 33 Comments
Because neither side has disclosed details, we don’t know for sure whether the roadmap Iran proposed to the P5+1 powers in Geneva in mid-October includes the future of the IR-40 reactor project. Iran’s counterparts have good reason to make sure that the unfinished heavy water reactor is on a short list of must-resolve issues. Once …
Human Values in the Atomic Age
by | 2013-10-21 | 8 Comments
In November 1953, The American Academy of Political and Social Science issued a thin hardcover issue of The Annals, edited by Robert A. Dahl, titled The Impact of Atomic Energy. This collection of essays and book reviews appeared during a rocky phase of the nuclear competition, with the advent of thermonuclear weapons and a geopolitical …
Israel, Nuclear Weapons and the 1973 Yom Kippur War
by | 2013-10-21 | 20 Comments
One of the nicest things about relocating to Monterey is that Avner Cohen, a colleague from my days at the University of Maryland, has relocated too. Avner, like me, is a lapsed philosopher with a deep interest in nuclear weapons — there is probably no one who knows more about the Israeli nuclear weapons program. …
