Tensions Mount After Latest North Korean Missile Test
Ben Kentish | Independent
Tensions have mounted over North Korea’s attempts to develop a viable nuclear weapon after it carried out a successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Experts said the test suggested the communist state now has a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead within reach of major US cities.
Give Up on Denuclearizing North Korea
Jon Wolfsthal
Strategic milestones don’t come along everyday. Today was one of those days. On Friday, North Korea tested a missile than can deliver a nuclear weapon to almost any target in the continental United States, marking a major accomplishment for a state than many thought was on its last legs in the early 1990s. But far from dead, North Korea has managed to evade every political, military, and economic barrier that five successive U.S. presidents put in its way.
STRATCOM Chief: Improve Homeland Missile Defence Before Considering East Coast Expansion
Daniel Wasserbly | IHS Jane's 360
The Pentagon should work to improve sensors and interceptors for homeland missile defence before considering expanding the system with an East Coast site, according to the head of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM). Such an expansion has long been a priority for some in Congress. Republicans in Congress in each of the last several years have pushed the Pentagon to consider an East Coast site to host homeland defence interceptors, specifically to address possible future threats from Iran. This year Congress is again considering legislative measures to push for the East Coast expansion.
Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
Aloysio Nunes Ferreira | Folha de São Paulo
On July 7, the international community took a historic step when it adopted the text of the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, after a negotiating process that would not have been possible without the leadership of a group comprised of Brazil, South Africa, Austria, Ireland, Mexico and Nigeria. These countries were joined by the great majority of the United Nations Member States, which understood the humanitarian dimension of the initiative and actively participated in the negotiating conference with constructive spirit and responsibility, in order to fill an unacceptable legal gap in the field of disarmament.
Trump Looks for Way to Find Iran in Violation of Accord
David E. Sanger | New York Times
President Trump, frustrated that his national security aides have not given him any options on how the United States can leave the Iran nuclear deal, has instructed them to find a rationale for declaring that the country is violating the terms of the accord. American officials have already told allies they should be prepared to join in reopening negotiations with Iran or expect that the United States may abandon the agreement, as it did the Paris climate accord. And according to several foreign officials, the United States has begun raising with international inspectors in Vienna the possibility of demanding access to military sites in Iran where there is reasonable suspicion of nuclear research or development.
Some South Korean Lawmakers Consider a Nuclear Arsenal to Counter the North
Stuart Leavenworth | McClatchy DC Bureau
No longer sure they can rely on the United States, an increasing number of South Korean lawmakers say their country should develop its own nuclear arsenal to deter an attack by Kim Jong Un, their belligerent neighbor to the north. North Korea’s rapid missile advances, including successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July and again on Friday, are reviving calls for South Korea to assert its “nuclear sovereignty.” South Koreans are wary of President Donald Trump’s isolationist rhetoric and his calls for Asian allies to shoulder more of the defense burdens borne by the U.S. military.