Arms Control Wonk

click on the image for a larger version Closeup of the cylinder removed from an Iranian furnace. A while ago, I asked if anybody knew what the purpose of a furnace shown in an Iranian video covering the construction of the Safir-Omid space launcher was. Answering this question, as well understanding several other interesting scenes …

As regular readers know, there’s something of a dispute in the wonk world over the nature and origins of the North Korean missile program. Basically, it comes down to two issues: First, did a team of Russian scientists and engineers from the Makeyev design bureau in Miass help the North Koreans duplicate the SS-N-6 SLBM, …

The 1980s were a time of recreational shopping, “morning in America,” and a rare, public debate in the United States over the morality of nuclear deterrence. A high-octane confluence of events contributed to this intense moral debate — the first since the use of nuclear weapons to end World War II. The Reagan administration embraced …