Avatar photoJoyner on the NSG

Well, I am still sitting on a post on the new NSG guidelines — I remain genuinely conflicted about whether the Administration got enough or should have walked away. Our debates, public and private, have been entirely about whether the US got enough in terms of restricting supply. Dan Joyner argues that, perhaps, we got …

Avatar photoMemo from Jon Byong Ho

The Washington Post has just published its latest story by R. Jeffrey Smith based on a document supplied by A.Q. Khan to English journalist and would-be Khan biographer Simon Henderson.  This one is different – it’s not one of Khan’s confessionals, but a one-page memo to Khan from Jon Byong Ho, North Korea’s most senior …

Avatar photoThe Bhangmeter

I was corresponding with a colleague about the Operation Ivy clip I posted the other day. He is is very knowledgeable about nuclear weapons policy, more so than I am actually, and in passing mentioned one of the diagnostic devices used in the test: “The ‘bangmeter’ – really!” Actually, it is the Bhangmeter, with an …

Avatar photoSummer Reading for the Well-Read Wonk

I’ve asked Stephen Schwartz, the editor of The Nonproliferation Review, to suggest interesting reads that have appeared in The Nonproliferation Review for aspiring wonks. His nine recommendations follow. I will add a tenth in a subsequent post.