In April 2012, the Defense Department released another edition of the (purportedly) annual Report to Congress on the Military Power of Iran. As in 2010, I am struck by the arbitrariness of headline that has emerged. This year it is: “Iran’s Ballistic Missiles Improving.” So, that’s what the report says and it happens to be …
Resuming SLCM Data Exchanges
by | 2012-07-10 | 11 Comments
I was in DC briefly this week to participate in a workshop hosted by the Carnegie Endowment. James Acton asked me to propose a US-Russia confidence-building measure, which offered the welcome opportunity to make a suggestion I’ve been kicking around for awhile: The United States and Russia should resume the data exchanges on deployed nuclear-armed sea-launched …
Straws in the Wind
by | 2012-07-09 | 6 Comments
President Obama has yet to make a compelling, positive case for his re-election, including his track record in reinstituting verifiable reductions in nuclear forces, securing dangerous proliferation-relevant materials, and reaffirming the global compact known as the NPT. His opponent, Mitt Romney, opposed the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Moscow for reasons that would have …
China and the POE DPRK Report
by | 2012-07-02 | 11 Comments
As we had anticipated last week, last Friday the United Nations Security Council published its 2012 Panel of Experts Report pursuant to UNSCR Resolution 1874. Here it is. A year ago, the Chinese member of the POE would not sign the final report for 2011, effectively blocking publication of the report. The document was then nearly immediately leaked. This …
