The End of Conventional Arms Control and the Role of U.S. Congress
Ulrich Kuhn | Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
The renewed conflict between Russia and NATO has brought back security concerns over nuclear and conventional deterrence and defence in Europe. Since the days of the Cold War those two elements are closely intertwined, with direct ramifications on arms control policies. This article recalls the post-Cold War history of conventional arms control in Europe. It focuses on the underexplored impact of the US legislative during the mid-to-late-1990s. Relying on open sources from U.S. Congress, the article traces the political standstill on conventional arms control to a crucial Congressional decision in the year 1997 which ultimately tied the future of this arms control regime to the solution of two protracted conflicts in the post-Soviet space. The article challenges the mainstream view that Russia is solely to blame for the dissolution of conventional arms control and concludes that without solving the standstill, nuclear arms control for Europe will as well remain deadlocked.
Iran Stiffens Its Resolve as the Trump Administration’s Pressure Mounts
Vivian Yee | New York Times
In its campaign to throttle Iran into submission, the Trump administration has in the last several weeks applied smothering force — blocking the country’s last avenues for selling oil, classifying the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization and deploying ships and bombers to the Persian Gulf. But if the goal of increased pressure was to force Iran to change its behavior or to send angry Iranians into the streets to ultimately sweep the nation’s clerical leadership from power, it has so far achieved neither. Instead, it appears to have only stiffened Iran’s resolve, pushing it from wary patience to calibrated confrontation against an enemy it has long mistrusted. Its leaders, analysts say, are determined not to capitulate to what they view as economic and psychological warfare, or to negotiate under duress. “Try respect,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif shot back at President Trump in a tweet on Monday. “It works!”
North Korea Says “Biggest Issue” in U.S. Ties is Impounded Ship
Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters
The U.S. seizure of a North Korean cargo ship is the biggest stumbling block to improving bilateral relations, a senior North Korean official said on Wednesday, warning Washington against using the “logic of strength” against Pyongyang. The Trump administration must make a “big decision” on lifting sanctions before stalled nuclear negotiations can resume, Han Tae Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, added in an interview. “It would be the greatest miscalculation if America thought my country is among the countries where American-style logic of strength or pressure might work,” Han, who is also North Korea’s disarmament ambassador, told Reuters. North Korea, under U.S. and U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs, has stepped up a campaign for the return of the ship, which Washington says it seized over accusations it was used for coal shipments in violation of the curbs.
Pakistan Says Wants Peace With India, Conducts Missile Test
James Mackenzie | Reuters
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated India’s Narendra Modi on Thursday for a triumphant victory that returned him to power in New Delhi after an election fought in the shadow of renewed confrontation between the nuclear-armed enemies. With official data showing Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on course to increase its majority in parliament, Khan said he was ready to cooperate with the government as it resumed office. “I congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the electoral victory of BJP and allies. Look forward to working with him for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia,” Khan tweeted. But in a possible warning to India, Pakistan earlier announced that it had conducted a training launch of a Shaheen II, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, which it said is capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 miles. “Shaheen II is a highly capable missile which fully meets Pakistan’s strategic needs toward maintenance of deterrence stability in the region,” Pakistan’s military said in a statement that made no direct mention of its neighbor.
When It Comes to Missile-Killing Lasers, the U.S. Navy is Ready to Burn its Ships
David Larter | Defense News
The U.S. Navy’s Director of Surface Warfare is ready to bet the farm on using lasers to shoot down missiles. The outgoing head of the Chief of Naval Operations’ surface warfare directorate Rear Adm. Ron Boxall said the Navy is going to get its High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance system on the Hawaii-based destroyer Preble in 2021, a moment that he compared with Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez ordering his own ships scuttled to motivate his men. “The key for us is HELOS: A shipboard laser that will take the place of what we have now,” Boxall said, referring to systems such as the Close-in Weapon System and Rolling Airframe Missile, in a May interview with Defense News. “When Cortez burned his boats it was a message that they were going to win, and they were only going to win by going forward,” he continued. “Similarly, we are making the decision to put the laser on our DDGs. It’s going to start with Preble in 2021, and when we do that, that will now be her close-in weapon that we now continue to upgrade.”
Why Nuclear Diplomacy Needs More Women
Elena Souris | Washington Post
After months of “fire and fury,” a summit, “beautiful” love letters and a promise the North Korean threat was resolved, the latest nuclear weapons negotiation between the United States and North Korea failed. This isn’t surprising. We haven’t seen a U.S.-North Korea agreement because nuclear policy is hard. Negotiating takes time, innovation, expertise and having the best minds involved in the process — including women. But women were notably not represented at the last Trump-Kim summit. At the negotiating table were nine men; the only woman was an American translator. Translating has long been considered a “feminine” job in international delegations. This work powered the United States’ rise over the 20th century, yet it reflects how women have been directed to support male-designed policy rather than contribute to its creation. As our research into women’s history in this field since the 1970s shows, for decades, women have been sidelined in nuclear policymaking. That makes our world less safe.