As many of you know, the Obama Administration has tasked the National Academies Committee on International Security and Arms Control (NAS–CISAC) to prepare a study on technical issues related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The National Academies has released the terms of reference and committee membership. The main charge to the committee …
Massive Retaliation
by | 2009-08-20 | 8 Comments
What was the apogee of U.S. nuclear excess? Numerically speaking, one could argue that it was in the 1960s, when the overall size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile peaked, or in the 1980s, if we’re counting the number of warheads associated with strategic nuclear delivery vehicles. In terms of U.S. declaratory policy, I would argue …
Why Iran's Clock Keeps Resetting
by | 2009-08-20 | 26 Comments
I’ve never asked, but am willing to bet that the good folks at The Bulletin get a fair bit of grief over the Doomsday Clock. Seeing as we’ve been at five minutes to midnight since 2007 (the typical snide question presumably goes) just how it is that the world keeps turning? That’s the problem with …
Bye Jack, We’re Proud to Have Known You
by | 2009-08-19 | 11 Comments
Jack McGeorge, left, in one of his rubber suits examines an Iraqi 122 mm rocket potentially filled with sarin One of the great unsung heroes of the UN weapons inspections in Iraq passed away during cardiac surgery on 18 August 2009. We were fortunate to work with Harvey “Jack” McGeorge at the United Nations Monitoring, …
