The U.S. Exit From the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Has Fueled a New Arms Race
James Acton | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Twenty years ago today, then-president George W. Bush announced that the United States would withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. This cornerstone of the Cold War arms control regime, signed in 1972, sought to cap the arms race by limiting homeland missile defenses, thus reducing pressures on the superpowers to build more nuclear weapons. Bush, however, claimed that the treaty had outlived its purpose, since “the hostility that once led both our countries to keep thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert” had died alongside the Soviet Union. Instead, three months after September 11, 2001, he argued that the treaty was hindering the United States from protecting itself against “terrorists” and “rogue states.” It’s clear now that withdrawing was an epic mistake.
A Ticking Time-Bomb?
George Perkovich | Malcom H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Not all problems in international affairs have solutions that the parties involved are willing to pursue in the time and manner necessary for success. The Iranian nuclear challenge did have a solution, namely the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was agreed in 2015. It wasn’t perfect, but it stabilized things by keeping Iran well short of acquiring nuclear weapons. In May 2018, then-president Donald Trump and the individuals and organizations that abetted him ruined it. Now Iran and its neighbors, along with the United States and other major powers, are heading back into nuclear crisis with little hope for a stable outcome.
South Korea Has Long Wanted Nuclear Subs. A New Reactor Could Open a Door.
Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times
The meeting was low-key, a presentation last month by South Korean officials to about 50 villagers gathered in a community hall on the country’s southeastern coast. The government, the audience was told, planned to build a test version of a small nuclear reactor at a new atomic research complex — the country’s largest ever — that is under construction in the village of Gampo. The modular reactor, to be completed by 2027, would be similar to those that power seagoing vessels like icebreakers and container ships. But that may not be the only ambition for this advanced technology. The project, nuclear experts say, could potentially allow South Korea to fulfill a long-held dream of developing a nuclear-powered submarine. It’s something that its most powerful ally, the United States, has opposed for decades.
Russia Says It May Be Forced to Deploy Mid-Range Nuclear Missiles in Europe
Alexander Marrow and Mark Trevelyan | Reuters
Russia said on Monday it may be forced to deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Europe in response to what it sees as NATO’s plans to do the same. The warning from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov raised the risk of a new arms build-up on the continent, with East-West tensions at their worst since the Cold War ended three decades ago.
Satellite Images, Expert Suggest Iranian Space Launch Coming
Jon Gambrell | Associated Press
Iran appears to be preparing for a space launch as negotiations continue in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers, according to an expert and satellite images. The likely blast off at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport comes as Iranian state media has offered a list of upcoming planned satellite launches in the works for the Islamic Republic’s civilian space program, which has been beset by a series of failed launches. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard runs its own parallel program that successfully put a satellite into orbit last year.
‘15 Minutes to Save the World’: A Terrifying VR Journey Into the Nuclear Bunker
Julian Borger | Guardian
It became clear that things had gone terribly awry on this particular day when I saw that the most moderate option on the desk in front of me involved killing at least five million people. I could kill up to 45 million if I chose the more comprehensive of the alternatives laid out on three pieces of paper, but it was hard to focus on the details because there were people shouting at me through my earpiece and from the screens in front of me. I was experiencing what a US president would have to do in the event of a nuclear crisis: make a decision that would end many millions of lives – and quite possibly life on the planet – with incomplete information and in less than 15 minutes. In the real world, I was in a meeting room in a Washington hotel, but with virtual reality goggles strapped on.