This is very interesting. The US and South Korea, in the 42nd U.S.-RoK Security Consultative Meeting Joint Communique, have committed to … … institutionalize an Extended Deterrence Policy Committee, which will serve as a cooperation mechanism to enhance the effectiveness of extended deterrence. That is a very interesting recommendation. The United States has a formal …
Scare Tactics
by | 2010-10-19 | 16 Comments
Money is the mother’s milk of politics; motivation is the mother’s milk of the politics of treaty ratification. Arms control battles in the United States tend to be uneven fights — and not just because skeptics need only 34 votes to quash a treaty in the Senate. The “arms control lobby” has not been known …
The Cooling Tower
by | 2010-10-16 | No Comments
I have a commentary over at 38 North about the political symbolism of North Korea’s construction/excavation activities near the ruins of the Yongbyon reactor’s cooling tower: What is clear is the political symbolism of the site itself. The Six Party Process, at least as we knew it, is dead and buried. The trucks and other …
Test Ban Wonkery: Streaming Live
by | 2010-10-14 | 1 Comment
Many years ago, I managed to convince VERTIC’s then Executive Director, Michael Crowley, to send me on a two day trip to Vienna just to meet with our friends at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. During those days, the treaty’s verification regime was still half built, and the building was buzzing with activity. …
