Edition

KSA: Outliers and Firewalls

IN THIS ISSUE: KSA: Outliers and Firewalls, U.S. Nuclear Firms’ New Plan to Cash In on Saudi Deal, The Plan to Resurrect the North Korea Nuclear Talks, Trump, Pompeo Brush Aside Kim’s Deadline for Nuclear Talks Flexibility, South Korean President Calls for 4th Summit with Kim Jong Un, Modi Claims India has ‘Deflated’ Pakistan’s Nuclear Threat

Published on April 16, 2019

KSA: Outliers and Firewalls

Mark Hibbs | Arms Control Wonk

The recent attention given to a U.S. Congressional report, and especially its allegations of secrecy and potentially illegal actions concerning individuals close to President Donald Trump, raises the question whether advisers to the President could engineer the export of nuclear power reactors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) or another foreign destination outside the requirements of U.S. statutes and behind the backs of lawmakers.

U.S. Nuclear Firms’ New Plan to Cash In on Saudi Deal

Erin Banco | Daily Beast

In the race to supply nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia, U.S. companies are playing catch-up. Executives in the industry and American officials told The Daily Beast that despite the Trump administration pushing for a deal with Riyadh, the U.S. nuclear energy sector is behind its competitors, notably Russia and China, when To get ahead, U.S. companies are mulling over whether to turn a consortium of companies—which some have dubbed “Team USA”—into one that includes foreigners, namely state-run energy firms from South Korea, in an attempt to strengthen its bid in Saudi Arabia. it comes to developing and exporting technology for major international projects. 

The Plan to Resurrect the North Korea Nuclear Talks

Uri Friedman | Atlantic

Once Air Force One was wheels-up from Hanoi, Vietnam, last February, the American president phoned his South Korean counterpart and asked for help. Donald Trump had just walked out on nuclear negotiations with North Korea’s leader, but he hadn’t given up on diplomacy just yet. Trump told Moon Jae In that “you need to talk to Kim Jong Un,” recalled a senior South Korean official who was aware of what was said during the call but spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump said “‘call him’ … something like six times.” Then, as the call was wrapping up, the U.S. president extended an invitation: “After that, come over to Washington, D.C. Let’s have lunch. We’ll talk about stuff, moving ahead.”

Trump, Pompeo Brush Aside Kim’s Deadline for Nuclear Talks Flexibility

David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick | Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday brushed aside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s demand for Washington to show more flexibility in nuclear talks by year-end, with Pompeo saying Kim should keep his promise to give up his nuclear weapons before then. Asked about Kim’s statement last week that he was only interested in meeting Trump again if the United States came with the right attitude, Pompeo told reporters that the president was “determined to move forward diplomatically.” But Pompeo said Kim had made a commitment to denuclearize and “we collectively need to see that outcome move forward.” “Our teams are working with the North Koreans ... to chart a path forward so that we can get there. He said he wanted it done by the end of the year. I’d love to see that done sooner.” 

South Korean President Calls for 4th Summit with Kim Jong Un

Kim Tong-Hyung | ABC News

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Monday he's ready for a fourth summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to help salvage faltering nuclear negotiations between the North and the United States.Moon's comments came after Kim issued his harshest criticism yet of South Korea's diplomatic role last week, accusing Seoul of acting like an "overstepping mediator" and demanding that it diverge from Washington to support the North's position more strongly.

Modi Claims India has ‘Deflated’ Pakistan’s Nuclear Threat

South China Morning Post

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India had called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff in recent cross-border air strikes that almost triggered a new war between the nuclear-armed rivals. Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have made national security the focus of their campaign for a national election now being held. The prime minister told an election rally that an air strike inside Pakistan in February had shown that warnings hostilities could escalate into nuclear conflict were false. “Pakistan has threatened us with nuclear, nuclear, nuclear,” Modi told an election rally in Indian-administered Kashmir near the border with Pakistan. “Did we deflate their nuclear threat or not?” he asked the crowd that chanted “Modi, Modi, Modi” in response.

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