Arms Control Wonk

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Zhao Ziyang Ailing

Zhao Ziyang is reportedly near death. The New York Times hits the high notes: Anointed as a successor to Deng Xiaoping, the country’s paramount leader, Mr. Zhao favored a relatively bold pace of political and economic reform. His hold on…

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Brazil Rebuffs IAEA

The Brazilian government has refused to allow IAEA inspectors to examine the Resende uranium enrichment plant near Rio de Janeiro. “We feel deeply bothered, almost offended, when suspicions are raised about Brazil,” a senior Brazilian diplomat told the Washington Post.…

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Bob Joseph Says Missile Defense Will Be Space Based

Here is the last paragraph in the Aviation Week & Space Technology article on easing export controls to improve international missile defense collaboration: Long-time missile defense advocate Robert G. Joseph, special assistant to the President and senior director for proliferation…

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NFIRE Gets Some Bad Press

ABCNews.com has a story on space weaponization, with the the Near Field Infra Red Experiment as the lead (the author called me for a comment, but alas I was in Switzerland). The story even has “one senior government official and…

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Killings in Fallujah

This morning on CNN someone asked, angrily, “Where were all the Iraqis who support our efforts during this horrific act?” The answer to that question is not unrelated to Secretary Rumsfeld’s flip declaration that he doesn’t understand soft power. International…

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Nye on Rumsfeld on Soft Power

Joe Nye has an op-ed in the Washington Post today with the story about Rumsfeld and soft-power: After the war in Iraq, I spoke about soft power to a conference co-sponsored by the Army. One of the speakers was Defense…

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How many Chinese Nuclear Weapons Redux

In a previous post, I noted that the “NAIC estimates China has 140 nuclear ballistic missiles” including about 100 medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). A close look at classified documents leaked to the press suggests the number of MRBMs may…

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St. Kitts and Nevis Sign CTBT

I’ve just returned from the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, only to learn of an event of major geopolitical importance: the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis has signed the CTBT. I will, of course, closely follow the ratification process…