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Many national security experts, including this one, warned that if the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty there would be an international storm of protest. On June 13, President Bush withdrew from the treaty, and the world went on without a hiccup. There is concern but no outrage. The United States and Russia have just negotiated a new treaty continuing reductions in long-range nuclear weapons but without any limits on future missile defense systems. Relations with Russia have never been better. Is this a complete vindication of the president's policies, as White House officials claim?
The arrest and detention of alleged dirty bomber Abdullah Al Mujahir sent waves of shock throughout the country. The threat posed by the possible use of a radiological dispersal device remains serious, and a threat for which the United States government and its people are not adequately prepared. In the days since Attorney General Ashcroft's dramatic announcement, however, it is less clear how direct the link is between Al Mujahir and the possible use of a radioactive device. If the Justice Department has exaggerated the nature of the link between the suspect and a dirty bomb, then it needs to re-calibrate its tone and approach.
There is great uncertainty over the number, location and operational status of the nuclear weapons held by India and Pakistan. The project has prepared a short overview of the two nations' nuclear capabilities drawn from extensive analysis from the latest Carnegie study, <a href="http://www.ceip.org/deadly">Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass Destruction</a>.
The authors provide detailed and important recommendations on issues of acquisition of citizenship, dual nationality, and the political, social, and economic rights of immigrants.
The two presidents have missed a historic opportunity to set up an international exchange of data on nuclear stockpiles, as well as mutual, verifiable elimination of warheads.
The following is not our normal project analysis. Rather it is a link to an analysis by Jon Stewart of the Daily Show. This short video clip provides humorous and, some may think, valuable insight into the recent U.S.-Russian nuclear reduction treaty. It features commentary by Project Director Joseph Cirincione. As far as we know, this is the first—and perhaps the last—time that a proliferation expert has appeared on Comedy Central.
The precipitous decline of Russian power and influence in the world may stand as the most significant development for international relations of the last quarter of the 20th century. Never in modern history has a great power fallen so far so fast during peacetime.