How Climate Change Challenges the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent
JAMIE KWONG | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Climate change could have mission-altering impacts on the U.S. nuclear deterrent. This paper examines the range of climate change challenges and threats that could detrimentally affect each leg of the U.S. nuclear triad in different and increasingly serious ways. In doing so, the paper helps to advance broader, ongoing efforts to account for climate change in U.S. national security policies. It also aims to inform and help initiate a larger conversation about the vulnerabilities of all nuclear weapons programs to climate change. Gaining greater clarity about these vulnerabilities now is essential to mitigating the worst effects of climate change on nuclear weapons in the future.
Kim Vows to Boost North Korea’s Nuclear Capability After Observing New Long-range Missile Launch
HYUNG-JIN KIM | Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further bolster his country’s nuclear fighting capabilities as he supervised the second test flight of a new, powerful intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the mainland United States, state media reported Thursday. Kim’s statement suggested North Korea would ramp up weapons testing activities to expand its arsenal in response to recent U.S. steps to enhance its security commitment to ally South Korea.
South Korea and NATO Call for United Front Against North Korean Nukes
Shreyas Reddy | NK News
South Korea’s president called on NATO and several of the bloc’s member states to oppose North Korea’s nuclear and missile activities on Tuesday, while Seoul reached an agreement with the organization to boost cooperation on nonproliferation and cybersecurity. In a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the sidelines of the security alliance’s summit in Lithuania, Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized that the international community must respond firmly to Pyongyang’s “illegal nuclear and missile provocations” and requested NATO’s support, Seoul’s presidential office said in a press release. In response, Stoltenberg expressed concern about North Korea’s nuclear and missile development and stated the international community must work together to solve this issue.“This affects all NATO allies, and just underlines the importance of all those who believe in the rules-based order to stand together,” he said.
Ukraine will ‘No Doubt’ Join NATO When War with Russia Ends, US Defense Secretary Tells CNN
Rob Picheta and Zahid Mahmood | CNN
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told CNN on Thursday he has “no doubt” that Ukraine will become part of NATO after Russia’s war against the country ends.“I have no doubt that will happen, and we heard just about every country in the room say as much,” Austin said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in Vilnius, Lithuania, following a two-day summit that was dominated by the question of when Kyiv would join the alliance. “I think that was reassuring to [Ukrainian President] Volodymyr Zelensky, there are other things that should happen, like judicial reform and things that make sure that the democracy is in good shape,” Austin added US President Joe Biden had previously emphasized that Ukraine is not ready to enter NATO, telling CNN in an exclusive interview last week that Russia’s war in Ukraine needs to end before the alliance can consider adding Kyiv to its ranks.
Cuba Calls US Nuclear Submarine in Guantanamo Bay 'Provocative Escalation'
Nelson Acosta | Reuters
Cuban authorities on Tuesday said the U.S. recently had a nuclear-powered submarine at its military base at Guantanamo Bay and called the action a "provocative escalation" of tensions weeks after Washington alleged that there was a Chinese spy base on the island. "The presence of a nuclear submarine there at this moment makes it imperative to wonder what is the military reason behind this action in this peaceful region of the world," Cuba's foreign ministry said in a statement. Washington did not confirm that there was a submarine at the naval base.
China Honours Nuclear Submarine Unit and Military Equipment Development Department
Minnie Chan | South China Morning Post
Chinese President Xi Jinping has awarded first-class merit citations to two military units – but the reasons for the awards have not been made public.
On Wednesday the state news agency Xinhua announced that Xi had signed an order of commendation for a nuclear submarine unit overseeing the South China Sea and an office of the Central Military Commission’s equipment development department…Official information shows the equipment development department’s responsibilities include weapons development and procurement, equipment appraisal and the country’s manned space flight project.