I am in New Delhi, attending a Financial Services Volunteer Corps dialogue among Russian, Chinese, Indian and American participants. Our meeting kicked off on Friday, which just happened to coincide with a state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin and India’s Republic Day. (Republic Day is a dry holiday in India, which led to some …
Two Can Play at This Game
by | 2007-01-27 | 2 Comments
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Arak Heavy Water Plant. Paul has a wrap up of the Iranian bureaucratic machinery behind Iran’s decision to bar 38 French, British, German and Canadian nationals from serving as IAEA inspectors in Iran. Mark Hibbs, meanwhile, reports that the IAEA Board of Governors is close to asking the IAEA …
Does the DF-31 Suck or What?
by | 2007-01-24 | 9 Comments
In my forthcoming book, one of the little nagging questions I couldn’t answer was why the DF-31 solid-fueled ICBM (IRBM, harumph) was taking so damn long. I said: “In 1996, NAIC predicted CSS‐X‐10 (DF‐31) deployment ‘about the turn of the century.’ Since the missile remains to be deployed, the program may be under‐funded or experiencing …
Trouble for Ahmadinejad
by | 2007-01-24 | 8 Comments
Is there actually something promising happening in this whole Iran nuclear drama? A number of recent indications suggest that Iranian President Ahmadinejad is in trouble, and his uncompromising stance on the nuclear program is being questioned within Iran. If Ahmadinejad continues to make his own mistakes, will the West have waited out, perhaps unintentionally, Iran’s …
