A Chinese Nuclear Deterrent Aimed at the U.S.
Stratfor
Deployments of nuclear-capable missiles always send a message, but it isn't always immediately clear who the target is. Chinese media reported Tuesday on the possible deployment of long-range Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles in northeastern China close to Russia, triggering speculation in Russian media about China's intent. One possibility that has been raised is that the move was in response to potential U.S-Russian negotiations over arms treaties. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rebutted the idea, adding that Russia does not consider China's positioning of the nuclear-capable systems in Heilongjiang province a threat.
It Is Two and a Half Minutes to Midnight
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Over the course of 2016, the global security landscape darkened as the international community failed to come effectively to grips with humanity’s most pressing existential threats, nuclear weapons and climate change. The United States and Russia—which together possess more than 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons—remained at odds in a variety of theaters, from Syria to Ukraine to the borders of NATO; both countries continued wide-ranging modernizations of their nuclear forces, and serious arms control negotiations were nowhere to be seen.
5 Burning Nuclear Problems on Trump’s Desk
Jon Wolfsthal | Foreign Policy
Nuclear weapons remain the most powerful weapons on the planet and how President Donald Trump’s team manages nuclear issues is critical to our security. These are hard challenges; none were perfectly addressed under President Obama’s leadership. But we made them a priority from day one. Whether or not the new team puts them at the top of the to-do list, here are five issues that will demand their attention before too
Why Pakistan's Newly Flight-Tested Multiple Nuclear Warhead-Capable Missile Really Matters
Ankit Panda | Diplomat
On Tuesday, Pakistan, for the first time ever, conducted a flight test of a new medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM), the Ababeel. The missile, according to a release by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), is capable of carrying multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle as its payload, according to the release. The ISPR release specifically added that the Ababeel is “capable of carrying nuclear warheads and has the capability to engage multiple targets with high precision, defeating the enemy’s hostile radars.” It also adds that the “Ababeel Weapon System” — presumably referring to the prospective MIRV payload — is “aimed at ensuring survivability of Pakistan’s ballistic missiles in the growing regional Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) environment.”
The Atomic Origins of Climate Science
Jill Lepore | New Yorker
A nuclear weapon is a certain thing—atomic or hydrogen, fission or fusion, bomb or missile, so many megatons—but nothing could be more uncertain than the consequences of using one. Nine nations have nuclear weapons; only the United States has ever used one, and that was in 1945. Our nuclear-weapons policy rests on a seven-decade-long history of events that have never happened: acts of aggression that were not committed, wars that were not waged, an apocalypse that has not come to pass. Strategists attribute the non-occurrence—the deterrence—of these events to the weapons themselves, to bombs on airplanes, missiles in silos, launchers on submarines. The power of deterrence, however, is a claim that cannot be proved. If, while a police car is parked in front of your house, your house is not robbed, you might suspect that a robbery would have taken place had the police not been there, but you can’t know that for sure. Nuclear-weapons policy is a body of speculation that relies on fearful acts of faith.
Trading Sanctions for Nuclear Arms Cuts? 'Russia's Security is Not for Sale'
Sputnik News
Moscow does not intend to reduce its nuclear weapons arsenal in exchange for the United States removing some of the sanctions imposed on Russia, defense analyst Igor Korotchenko told Radio Sputnik, commenting on US President Donald Trump's remarks suggesting that the two issues could be linked. Last week, President Trump spoke in favor of cutting nuclear armaments "very substantially," adding that "nuclear weapons should be way down." He also indicated that he will try to negotiate "some good deals with Russia," offering sanctions relief in exchange.