Obama’s Non-Nuclear Memoir
George Perkovich | War on the Rocks
It was December 2009 and the still-new president was in his hotel room in Oslo getting dressed in the tuxedo he would wear for the ceremony to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. An aide knocked on the door and urged him to look out the window. Pulling back the shades, Barack Obama saw several thousand people in the narrow street below holding lit candles over their heads to celebrate him. “[O]n some level,” he notes in his excellent new 700-page memoir, “the crowds below were cheering an illusion … The idea that I, or any one person, could bring order to [this chaotic world] seemed laughable.” (p. 446) Obama famously had questioned how he deserved this prize so early in his presidency. One answer was the “Prague speech” he had given that April, stating “clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
Some of Those Involved in Killing of Iranian Nuclear Scientist Arrested, Official Says
Reuters
Some of those involved in the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist last month have been arrested, an adviser to the Iranian parliament speaker said on Tuesday, according to the semi-official news agency ISNA. Iran has blamed Israel for the Nov. 27 killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was seen by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons programme. Tehran has long denied any such ambition. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing. “The perpetrators of this assassination, some of whom have been identified and even arrested by the security services, will not escape justice,” ISNA quoted adviser Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as telling Iran’s Arabic-language Al Alam TV.
Biden’s First Foreign-Policy Challenge Could be North Korea Testing a Nuclear Weapon or an ICBM, Experts Say
Joby Warrick | Washington Post
Despite “fire and fury” rhetoric and a trio of presidential summits, President Trump is leaving office without fulfilling his promise to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear threat. Yet even though Kim Jong Un refused to stop building bombs and missiles, the North Korean leader did become quieter about it. In the 2½ years since the first summit, in Singapore, Kim expanded his nuclear stockpile and fielded powerful new missiles, including a 75-foot-long behemoth that was paraded through central Pyongyang in October. But Kim, who beguiled Trump with flattering letters and elaborately staged photo-ops, refrained from the kinds of provocative weapons tests that might trigger a harsh U.S. response.
France to Build New Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier
AP
France will build a new, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace its Charles de Gaulle carrier by 2038, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday. Macron framed the decision to use nuclear reactors to propel the future warship as part of France’s climate strategy, stressing its lower emissions compared to diesel fuel. Speaking at a nuclear facility in the Burgundy town of Le Creusot, he called France’s nuclear weapons and atomic energy industry “the cornerstone of our strategic autonomy,” and said the nuclear sector plays a role in France’s “status as a great power.”
North Korea Wasted Chance to Improve Relations Under Trump, U.S. Envoy Says
Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin | Reuters
Pyongyang squandered an opportunity to fundamentally reinvent its relationship with the United States during Donald Trump’s presidency, Washington’s top North Korea envoy said on Thursday, adding he will urge his successors to continue engagement. Speaking to a think tank in Seoul during a visit to meet with South Korean security officials, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun admitted he was disappointed denuclearisation negotiations had stalled and that more progress was not made during his time leading those efforts. “Regrettably, much opportunity has been squandered by our North Korean counterparts over the past two years, who too often have devoted themselves to the search for obstacles to negotiations instead of seizing opportunities for engagement,” he said, according to his prepared remarks.
NTI Warns of Risks Associated With Digitization, Upgrades of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Systems
Dave Kovaleski | Homeland Preparedness News
In a new report, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) warns of the risks related to the digitization and automation upgrade plans for U.S. nuclear weapons systems. The report, U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Security and Policy Implications of Integrating Digital Technology, calls on the U.S. government to prioritize protecting new digital systems from cyberattacks before integrating with the U.S. nuclear arsenal. “There’s no question that many older systems need updating or replacing. But digital security against sophisticated adversaries must be as high a priority as performance,” Ernest J. Moniz, co-chair and CEO of NTI, said. “Updates must be carefully evaluated and tested to ensure they don’t introduce new vulnerabilities to the most lethal weapons on the planet.”