Arms Control Wonk

Episode61 min

Geospatial Analysis and the Serial Podcast

We love Serial. But what does it have to with arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament – nothing, really. So why talk about it? Geospatial analysis, of course. No, really! Today, Jeffrey and Aaron speak with Susan Simpson, an associate at…

Article

The Silent Treatment in South Asia

Secretary of State John Kerry is headed for the subcontinent, where his most important messages will be delivered in private and his public remarks will be as bland as possible. That’s how the game is played. Don’t expect U.S. officials…

Article

Year’s End and Contest Winners

As 2014 comes to a close, it’s time to count blessings and announce the winners of ACW’s year-end contest to name movie titles and creatures related to the Bomb. The arms-control business is a notoriously glass-half-full/half-empty enterprise. In the spirit…

Article

Pakistan’s Trials

Update: The “read more” link should work – The Wonktern Even for a nation accustomed to severe trials, what happened in Peshawar on December 16th was unbearable. Pakistani children, mostly belonging to military families, along with their teachers, were gunned…

Article

Diplomacy at Warped Speed

The space debris problem continues to grow as diplomats move at a snail’s pace to take remedial steps. Every piece of space debris about the size of a marble is a lethal weapon, traveling with the approximate energy of a…

Episode56 min

The Monarchy’s Missiles

Today, Jeffrey and Aaron discuss the history of Saudi Arabia’s missile program and the reasons for the Kingdom’s new openness vis-a-vis its ballistic missiles. Saudi Rattles Its Saber | NTI Analysis – by Jeffrey and Ala Alrababah Subscribe to the…

Article

Nu?

(Post has been updated. See below.) I’m getting concerned. No one has submitted a list of movie monsters that are bomb-related. Is anybody out there working on this? Is this contest to name enlarged movie creatures due to man’s folly…

Episode37 min

The Little Green Men and a New Cruise Missile

The INF debate continues. The controversy about Russia’s new cruise missile raises a number of key questions about American strategy in Europe: How should the United States respond to Russia’s INF violation? What are the security implications of a new…

Article

Amano’s Move on Marivan

After the powers and Iran in late 2013 concluded the Joint Plan of Action (JPA), I cautioned that, a year later, when everything else is supposed to be settled, the toughest nut to crack might be what to do about Iran’s…

Article

Repairing the Diplomatic Threat Reduction Enterprise

The “nuclear enterprise” – as the nuclear weapons complex and force structure in the United States have been successfully rebranded — is bloated and in need of paring. It is also in need of repair. The Pentagon commissioned two high-level…