Modernize the South Asia Nuclear Facility “Non-Attack” Agreement
Toby Dalton
On January 1, 2017, Indian and Pakistani diplomats exchanged official lists of the nuclear facilities located in their respective countries. According to news accounts at the time, this was the 26th such annual exchange of lists, pursuant to a 1988 bilateral confidence building agreement not to attack each other’s nuclear installations.[i] The fact that this exchange has been implemented without interruption, during periods of both calm and military crisis, makes it the most enduring nuclear confidence-building measure (CBM) on record in South Asia. At the same time, the banality of this exchange suggests that the agreement has little practical contemporary meaning for peace and security in the region.
Second Time is NOT a Charm for the Nuclear Ban Treaty
Jon Wolfthal
So the well-intended states and civil society groups in New York have produced a second draft of the nuclear weapons ban convention. The draft shows real work, and drafters deserve credit for some notable improvements. However, aside from questionable nature of the exercise to begin with, the second draft retains many of the specific problems associated with the first and raises new, serious questions. I remain concerned that the ban risks doing real damage to the nonproliferation and disarmament landscape and hope that further efforts to the draft reduce those to a minimum. It seems clear the ban is going to happen, so the question is how to ensure it doesn’t do any further damage to the nonproliferation and disarmament landscape.
U.S. Not Willing to Withdraw From INF Treaty - Trump's Special Assistant
Sputnik News
The United States does not want to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), Special Assistant to the President and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction and Counterproliferation Christopher Ford told Sputnik.
Ex-Nuke Commanders: Talk to North Korea, Open NATO-Russia Dialogue
Bryan Bender | Politico
An international group of ex-nuclear commanders Wednesday issued the first in a series of recommendations to world leaders to head off the rising threat of a nuclear war — calling on the Trump administration to open direct talks with North Korea, urging the United States, Russia and NATO to immediately establish military-to-military talks, and calling on India and Pakistan to set up a nuclear hotline. "The Nuclear Crisis Group assesses that the risk of nuclear weapons use, intended or otherwise, is unacceptably high and that all states must take constructive steps to reduce these risks," the former military and diplomatic leaders—from nations as diverse as Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and the United States—write in an 11-page report about what they consider the biggest nuclear flashpoints.
$20-Billion Nuclear Plant Deal With Bankrupt Westinghouse to Be Reworked
Times of India
India's $20-billion civil nuclear plant deal with bankrupt Westinghouse is being reworked. This will result in the American company branching out into a design and consultation role, while handing out the construction of the facilities to a local partner. Sources said that the deal, which will see the installation of six nuclear reactors in Andhra Pradesh, is being "taken back to the drawing board" after Westinghouse — a US unit of Japan's Toshiba — went bankrupt earlier this year.
Russia Military Power
Defense Intelligence Agency
The international order established after the Second World War and developed throughout the Cold War largely ensured widespread peace and stability even as it saw new conflicts—large and small—take place in different regions of the world. This post-war era, underwritten primarily by the strength of the United States, also gave rise to the greatest period of prosperity in history, witnessing countries rebuild from war and emerge from colonialism to become vibrant and valuable members of the international community. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States emerged as a world leader militarily, economically and diplomatically. Today, however, the United States faces an increasingly complex array of challenges to our national security.