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 (at a minimum) contemplate whether to bomb Iran. No one can quite say why now, …
The Arms Crawl that Wasn’t
by | 2011-11-07 | 6 Comments
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 political instruments intended to promote caution in the minds of their adversaries – while bolstering …
Closing The File On Hasaka
by | 2011-11-04 | 21 Comments
I think we can put to bed the suspicions about the Hasaka Spinning Factory. After this blog placed online the website of the Hasaka Spinning Factory, German journalist Paul-Anton Krüger tracked down the chief engineer of the original project in the early 1980s. He confirms that it is, and always has been, a textile factory.
Magical Realism
by | 2011-11-01 | 13 Comments
The Bomb lends itself to magical thinking on both sides of the usual divide. Died-in-the-wool realists scoff at arms control, let alone the plans of abolitionists. They tend to ascribe powers to nuclear weapons even beyond the Bomb’s destructive capacity, powers that include deterrence stability, escalation control and escalation dominance. As readers of these posts …
