Why North Korea’s New Cruise Missile Matters
Ankit Panda | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
North Korea’s newest cruise missile test shows its nuclear capabilities are growing. Here’s what policymakers from the United States and elsewhere should do now to set up future negotiators for success.
Iran Intends to Resume Nuclear Talks in the Near Future
Laurence Norman and Aresu Eqbali | Wall Street Journal
Iran said Monday it planned to resume nuclear talks in the near future, the clearest indication yet that negotiations on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal could soon resume, and the Biden administration confirmed it would drop a resolution censuring Iran for failing to cooperate with nuclear inspectors. The comments came after Iran agreed over the weekend to allow International Atomic Energy Agency staff access and reset cameras and other equipment that monitor Iranian activities at various nuclear-related sites in Iran.
US Momentum Grows for Push to Start Strategic Talks With China
Colin Clark | Breaking Defense
Just days after President Biden initiated a 90-minute call to Chinese President Xi Jingping, the Vice Chairman off the Joint Chiefs of Staff pushed for broader and lower-level talks with the Peoples Liberation Army, “I know the president — President Biden — and President Xi have talked a couple times this year. That’s important, but I hope we can broaden that conversation all the way down to the military-to-military level as well,” Gen. John Hyten said this afternoon.
Woodward/Costa Book: Worried Trump Could ‘Go Rogue,’ Milley Took Top-Secret Action to Protect Nuclear Weapons
Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, and Elizabeth Stuart | CNN
Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took top-secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to “Peril,” a new book by legendary journalist Bob Woodward and veteran Washington Post reporter Robert Costa.
China’s Nuclear Build-Up: The Great Distraction
Rose Gottemoeller | The Hill
President Biden is reviewing America’s nuclear posture. By January, we should know what he thinks about U.S. nuclear weapons, what policies should govern them and how many we need. Congress is watching closely, and the Senate and House of Representatives are sure to debate the results; they always do. But this year will be different. A new player has entered the field — China.
Understanding Hypersonic Weapons: Managing the Allure and the Risks
Shannon Bugos and Kingston Reif | Arms Control Association
The debate concerning hypersonic weapons has gained increased attention in recent years as the United States has poured billions of dollars—and plans to pour billions more—into accelerating the development of hypersonic weapons and as China and Russia make headway in developing and deploying their own such weapons. The Pentagon is funding no less than eight prototype hypersonic weapons programs with the aim of fielding an initial capability of at least some of those by 2022. The U.S. rush to field hypersonic weapons merits a more critical examination by the Biden administration and Congress given the many unanswered questions about their rationale, technical viability, cost-effectiveness, and escalatory risks. It is past time for Congress to demand these answers before the military begins fielding the weapons in great numbers.