How Kazakhstan Fought Back Against Soviet Nuclear Tests
Togzhan Kassenova | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
In July of 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman boasted to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin about a novel weapon of unusually destructive force. The next month, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, instantly killing at least 100,000 people, with many thousands dying in the days after from the injuries. Stalin immediately tasked his government to build a Soviet nuclear weapon to catch up with the American one. The people of Kazakhstan could not have known the extent to which these events would forever change their fate—and their lands.
A Letter From Moscow: (In)divisible Security and Helsinki 2.0
Alexander Graef and Ulrich Kühn | War on the Rocks
A Russian letter recently darkened Europe’s door. In it, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the alliance’s understanding and use of a principle known as “indivisible security.” You would be forgiven for having never heard of that niche term that emerged from a conference in Helsinki in the 1970s (more on that later), but Lavrov does have a point. It comes down to contrasting interpretations of what this term means in Western capitals versus in Moscow.
Iran ‘Is in a Hurry’ to Revive Nuclear Deal if Its Interests Secured -Foreign Minister
Parisa Hafezi | Reuters
Iran is “in a hurry” to strike a new nuclear accord as long as its national interests are protected, its foreign minister said on Monday as Tehran and the United States resumed indirect talks on salvaging Tehran’s 2015 agreement with world powers. The talks, with European intermediaries shuttling between the two, have been held in Vienna since April amid growing Western fears about Tehran’s accelerating nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible unless a deal is struck soon.
Maryland Man Pleads Guilty to Trying to Sell Nuclear Secrets to Foreign Government
Myah Ward | POLITICO
A Maryland man charged with attempting to sell nuclear secrets to a foreign government pleaded guilty to espionage on Monday. Jonathan Toebbe, a nuclear engineer, pleaded not guilty in October and was detained pending trial. In Monday’s binding plea deal, Toebbe will be sentenced to between about 12 and a half and 17 and a half years in prison, and is required to turn over and provide access to all electronic devices, accounts and any other files he might have. He also consented to assisting federal officials with locating all classified information he possesses, as well as the money the undercover FBI agent gave him while the government gathered evidence.
Small Quakes Reported Near North Korea Nuclear Site Amid Talk of Resumed Testing
Josh Smith | Reuters
A series of small earthquakes has struck near North Korea’s shuttered nuclear test site, South Korea has said, highlighting the area’s geological instability as Pyongyang hints it could resume testing for the first time since 2017. At least four earthquakes, all of which occurred naturally, have hit the region in the past five days, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) in Seoul. The latest was a 2.5 magnitude quake on Tuesday morning, which was centred about 36 km (22 miles) from the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site. A pair of 2.3 magnitude earthquakes were reported in the area on Monday and another at 3.1 magnitude on Friday.
In Hawaii, Blinken Aims for a United Front With Allies on North Korea
Edward Wong | New York Times
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan on Saturday presented a unified front against North Korea’s recent missile tests, which the country has been conducting at its fastest rate in years. “I think it is clear to all of us that the D.P.R.K. is in a phase of provocation,” Mr. Blinken said at a news conference in Honolulu after an afternoon of meetings. He said the three countries would “continue to hold the D.P.R.K. accountable,” using an abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. But all three officials said their governments were open to talks with the North, even as they condemned the recent tests.