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Election Special - Nonproliferation Views, Part 2

With the Presidential election fast approaching, it is a good time to examine where Senators Barack Obama and John McCain stand on the issues of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation. This two part series will address this topic, focusing on the stance each candidate takes on WMD issues and how their roll call voting records reflect their commitment to disarmament and nonproliferation. Other controversial and highly political issues included in this analysis are the U.S.-India nuclear deal and national missile defense. This month: Part II—Senator McCain (for Part I—Senator Obama, see September issue). Read the rest of this entry »

Ask McCain and Obama about Missile Defense - Philip Coyle

Missile defense is the most expensive defense procurement program in history. Since President Reagan’s famous “Star Wars” speech in 1983, the U.S. has spent at least $120 billion on missile defense. Over the next five years, the Pentagon has requested another $62.5 billion for missile defense, with no end in sight.

If the next U.S. President and Congress support this spending on missile defense, by the end of 2013 over $110 billion will have been spent just since 2003, not counting U.S. missile defense spending in the previous 20, 40, or 60 years. Read the rest of this entry »

Election Special—Nonproliferation Views, Part 1

With the Presidential election fast approaching, it is a good time to examine where Senators Barack Obama and John McCain stand on the issues of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation. This two part series will address this topic, focusing on the stance each candidate takes on WMD issues, and how their roll call voting records reflect their commitment to disarmament and nonproliferation. Other controversial and highly political issues included in this analysis are the U.S.-India nuclear deal and national missile defense. Part 1 features Senator Obama; Part II (forthcoming in next month’s newsletter) features Senator McCain.

Senator Obama has a great deal to say about the issue of nuclear weapons and proliferation in his platform and various speeches; his predominant stance on nuclear weapons and disarmament comes across as a commitment to eliminate the global threat of nuclear weapons and support for the nonproliferation regime, yet his voting record remains mixed. Below is a summary of the main issues, along with how Senator Obama voted on crucial issues, and other initiatives he supports. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s 5 Minutes to Midnight

On January 17, 2007, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight, where it presently remains at five minutes to midnight. The Doomsday Clock measures how close the world is to self destructing – mainly via nuclear weapons. In a press release, the scientific group explains the shift, because “we stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices.” The Doomsday Clock has only been closer to midnight twice since the initial use of an atomic bomb – four minutes in 1981 and three minutes in 1984. On the 63rd anniversary of those bombings, it is time to consider the severity of the current state of nuclear proliferation and what steps we can take to tip the precarious balance away from nuclear annihilation. Read the rest of this entry »

The India Deal - A Setback for Nonproliferation

We who are interested in reducing global nuclear dangers have a responsibility to block a proposed arrangement in which the U.S. will sell its nuclear technology India. Here are the main problems with the deal: Read the rest of this entry »

Is the NPT a Relic of the Cold War?

July 1st is the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). At the height of the Cold War, the NPT forged a new path in international politics by derailing nuclear proliferation. With the recent world changes, though, it is not certain that NPT will continue to be effective in the coming years. The United States and Russia are touting the importance of maintaining a nuclear arsenal, the U.S. has yet to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Testing Ban (CTBT), and there is a burgeoning nuclear arms race in the Middle East and South Asia. Can the NPT survive this new wave of proliferation? Read the rest of this entry »

Diplomacy 101—Advice For the Next U.S. President

During a speech given while celebrating Israel’s 60th anniversary, President Bush stated, “Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along…. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared, ‘Lord, if I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.’ We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.” The policy of the Bush administration has generally been to denounce diplomacy, preferring instead both the threat and use of military action. The National Defense Strategy of the United States of America states, “Our strength as a nation state will continue to be challenged by those who employ a strategy of the weak using international fora, judicial processes, and terrorism.” President Bush does not believe that we should conduct talks with enemies, and appears to equate diplomacy with appeasement. However, foreign policy expert, John Holum calls this the diplomatic equivalent of holding your breath until you pass out, practiced against someone who would prefer you dead. Read the rest of this entry »

The Time Has Come to Ratify CTBT

Australia is pushing for all remaining nations to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), so that the treaty may come into force as soon as possible. The treaty bans all nuclear weapons test explosions. CTBT was adopted by resolution in the General Assembly in September 1996, and met with resounding support. For the treaty to enter into force, 44 states (known as the annex states) must sign and ratify the treaty. Of the annex states, China, North Korea, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Pakistan and the United States have yet to ratify the treaty. (Source: Middle East Times) Read the rest of this entry »

NMD - Unnecessary, Ineffective, and Provocative

In March and April, the House National Security and Foreign Affairs Subcommittee held three hearings on the national missile defense (NMD) system. Originally conceived by President Reagan, and known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (nicknamed Star Wars by critics), the concept of NMD was to use space-based interceptors or nuclear-bomb pumped lasers to shoot down hostile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). Currently, the NMD program plans to use ground based interceptor missiles to intercept missiles in space (for more information, see http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/nmd/). Testimony from General Oberling, Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), claims “…we’ve made progress in our fielding and testing and have taken major steps to defend our homeland and our deployed forces and allies in the Pacific.” From the point of view of MDA, this sounds like the next great military masterpiece for the United States. What could possibly be wrong with this picture? Unfortunately, quite a bit. Read the rest of this entry »

Preventing an Arms Race in Outer Space - James Carroll

As World War I broke out, Henry James identified an inexorable current that had been running below international events, leading to the “monstrous scene” of August “as its grand Niagara.” Below the glassy upriver surface, the swift tide had been driven by habits of mind, arms merchant greed, imperial hubris, and a politics that was wholly inadequate. At the deadly cascade, nations tumbled into the most violent century in history. Writer Jonathan Schell cites the Niagara metaphor to define the still running momentum of war. Read the rest of this entry »

How Many Guns Are Enough? - Victoria Samson

Old habits die hard, and nowhere is that aphorism truer than at the Pentagon. In the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 budget request, released at the beginning of February, the Department of Defense (DOD) asked for $518 billion. This is the highest amount for the Pentagon since World War II. Marking its 10th straight year of growth, the Pentagon’s budget request puts to rest any thought of reallocating funds in the post-Cold War era and demonstrates that no matter what the security situation is globally, no amount of funding will ever be enough. Read the rest of this entry »

Transforming U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy - Daryl Kimball

Effecting change in Washington, and nuclear weapons policy in particular, is exceedingly difficult, requiring strong presidential leadership and a working bipartisan majority. Yet, recent congressional actions and trends will give the next occupant of the White House a rare opportunity to initiate sweeping changes in outdated U.S. nuclear weapons and arms control policies. Read the rest of this entry »

Getting Pakistan Right - Brian Katulis

Pakistan strongman Pervez Musharraf’s decision yesterday to postpone parliamentary elections for six weeks in the wake of the murder of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto last month is certainly controversial, but at least it gives the United States and other democratic friends and allies of Pakistan in the developed and developing world a chance to ensure those elections are free and fair. Read the rest of this entry »

The Iran Opening: Seize the Moment for a Nuclear Free World - Alice Slater

The welcome news that US intelligence agencies have disavowed earlier reports that Iran was hell-bent on making nuclear weapons has given the world a breather. Rational people can now fortify the case against the Bush Administration’s plans to unilaterally and pre-emptively attack Iran’s civilian nuclear facilities. It would be sheer folly to start yet another unauthorized war. Read the rest of this entry »

It Is Not Easy Being Number One - Bob O’Neill

As the Number One power in the world today, the United States faces pressing global issues, including the insurgency of radical Islam, the future of nuclear weapons, and the need for closer global co-operation. It should look to the history of predecessor Number Ones to find insights and clues which could help it act in the present and prepare for the future by learning from the successes and failures of the past. Read the rest of this entry »

Addressing the Nuclear Threat - Jonathan Granoff

Religious leaders gathering this week at the Festival of Faiths in Louisville must make a forceful call to forge a consensus of conscience and reason: Nuclear weapons are unworthy of civilization. No other threat to human survival is as immediate and hazardous as the 27,000 warheads still in existence. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking Disarmament Seriously - Bruce Roth & Bob O’Neill

All of the nuclear weapon states support the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) “in principle,” including those that are not parties to it. But they justify their continued possession of nuclear weapons with the specious argument that they have “special” security needs, which can only be satisfied with nuclear weapons. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ridiculously Redundant Warhead - Joe Cirincione

There is Precious Little Science Behind the RRW

Former Senator Sam Nunn says the Bush administration’s plan to build a brand new nuclear warhead will be “misunderstood by our allies; exploited by our adversaries; complicate our work to prevent the spread and use of nuclear weapons and…make resolution of the Iran and North Korea challenges all the more difficult.” Read the rest of this entry »

India and the New Nuclear Era - Bruce Roth

123 Or 3 … 2 … 1 … 0?

India’s Prime Minister Singh has cut the sweetest deal for his country since it became an independent nation 60 years ago. The Hyde Act, along with the 123 Agreement, will open the U.S. nuclear trade to India and create up to 27,000 jobs and $100 billion in foreign direct investment. But Singh can’t celebrate yet; his coalition is about to disintegrate because opponents to the deal claim that it will compromise India’s sovereignty. Ironically, it is the U.S. President who should worry about the effect the deal will have on his party, U.S. Congress which should be showing stronger opposition to the deal, and U.S citizens who should be outraged. Read the rest of this entry »

CTBT or Bust

There are strong competing arguments supporting the continued possession of nuclear weapons as well as the eradication of them. With an issue this complex, it is understandable that perfectly reasonable people will disagree. However, it seems entirely irrational for anyone to oppose the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Entry into force of the CTBT would make it illegal for any signatory to test a nuclear weapon. Testing a nuclear weapon is a critical phase in the development of new weapons. Without an actual test, scientists can not guarantee the effectiveness of new weapons with any confidence. Read the rest of this entry »