Pakistan and India: The Art of Peace
Toby Dalton and George Perkovich | Herald
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent public references to Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan confirm for many Pakistanis what they have long suspected: that India is employing covert means to destabilise and foment violence in Pakistan. If India is pursuing covert operations to punish Pakistan, it would be a disturbing development in the nearly seventy-year security competition between the two states; but it should not come as a great surprise.
North Korea's Kim Guides New Rocket Engine Test, Calls for Satellite Launch
Jack Kim and James Pearson | Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a ground test of a new rocket engine to launch satellites, the North's state media reported on Tuesday, the latest in a rapid succession of missile-related tests this year by the isolated state. Kim asked scientists and engineers to make "preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test," the official KCNA news agency said, indicating the North may soon launch another long-range rocket.
U.S., China Move Against Firm Suspected of Aiding North Korean Nuclear Program
Chun Han Wong and Jay Solomon | Wall Street Journal
The U.S. and China are targeting the finances of a sprawling Chinese conglomerate headed by a Communist Party member who the Obama administration believes has played a role in aiding North Korea’s nuclear program. The actions against the company, Hongxiang Industrial Development Co., mark the most serious effort to date to pursue Chinese firms and business executives for their suspected role in supporting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s rapidly expanding nuclear-weapons program. Earlier this month, Pyongyang conducted its fifth atomic test in a decade.
Obama to Decide on Cuts to U.S. Nuclear Arsenal in October
Julian Borger | Guardian
Barack Obama is expected to make a final decision next month on possible cuts to the US nuclear arsenal, in an attempt to consolidate his legacy as a disarmer before leaving office. Options on the table include reducing the number of deployed strategic warheads, slimming down the reserve stockpile, cutting military stores of fissile material available for making new warheads, and putting off some modernisation plans, including the a controversial air force programme for developing an air-launched cruise missile.
China Nuclear Developers Must Seek Public Consent: Draft Rules
Reuters
China's nuclear developers must seek the consent of local stakeholders before going ahead with new projects, according to draft rules published by the country's cabinet on Monday. Developers will need to assess the impact a nuclear project will have on social stability and solicit public opinion through hearings or announcements, the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council said.
Proposed Export of Enriched Uranium Runs Counter to U.S. Commitment, Critics Say
Patrick Malone | Center for Public Integrity
The Obama administration won praise for promising in 2012 to curtail the use of bomb-grade uranium in the production of medical diagnostic tools. But now the U.S. Energy Department is getting brickbats for proposing to send such materials to several European nations, including Belgium, where a shaky nuclear program has in recent years been plagued by sabotage, radicalization and terrorist surveillance.