That’s about the level of the rhetoric these days surrounding the new State Department “compliance” report. Although the Compliance Report (properly, Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments) isn’t strictly speaking part of the ratification package for the New START agreement, some opponents are trying to argue that Russia …
Nitze’s Strategic Concept
by | 2010-07-28 | 6 Comments
In 1985, obstructionists and nuclear deal makers in Ronald Reagan’s administration fought pitched battles over the President’s divided mind. Secretary of Defense Cap Weinberger and his allies appealed at every turn to President Reagan’s strong attachment to the Strategic Defense Initiative and his deep antipathy toward the Soviet Union. Secretary of State George Shultz and …
Patience is a Virtue
by | 2010-07-25 | 4 Comments
Or, Chillax About the China Military Power Report. Five Republican Senators — John Cornyn, John McCain, James Risch, Pat Roberts and James Inhofe — have written a letter suggesting that the Department of Defense is deliberately delaying the annual Report on Chinese Military Power. Wendell Minnick at Defense News and Josh Rogin in The Cable …
A Walk In The Woods
by | 2010-07-25 | 2 Comments
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the American Ensemble Theater’s production of Less Blessing’s A Walk In The Woods — a play about the relationship between an American arms control negotiator and his Soviet counterpart that was (very) loosely inspired by the (in)famous walk in the woods by Paul Nitze and Yuli Kvitsinsky. …
