Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The American public remains deeply skeptical of missile defenses. ABC News reports in a recent poll that "most Americans support the concept in principle, but that support dissipates dramatically in the face of counter-arguments on the price, workability and ramifications of the project."
Proliferation Roundtable
Project Director Joseph Cirincione outlines the three possible outcomes of the new strategic nuclear review ordered by President Bush and describes the conflicts that will shape whatever policy emerges. If done right, the review could help the president implement sweeping arms reductions and negotiate new agreements more effectively than President Clinton.
Bush administration efforts to promote a new national missile defense (NMD) plan have met with skepticism, hostility and uncertainty abroad. The Non-Proliferation Project has gathered recent quotes from the governments and leaders that will determine the outcome of the international debate on NMD. For further resources, visit the Project's resource page on missile defenses.
Alexander Pikayev spoke on the George Bush administration, the ABM Treaty and NATO expansion.
On Wednesday, January 17, India conducted a successful test of the 2000 km-range Agni II nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The test demonstrates that India's nuclear weaponization program continues to progress, albeit in slow-motion. According to Indian officials, this was Agni II's first test in "its final operational configuration," and the mission's objectives were met "satisfactorily." With only two successful tests nearly two years apart, Agni II is still not ready to deploy, although it is a step closer.
Ted Turner and former Senator Sam Nunn announced on 8 January the establishment of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a private foundation committed to reducing the risks posed by nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The organization will focus on easing the "pressure on the nuclear trigger" and actively promoting the "trust, transparency and security that are preconditions to the fulfillment of the Nonproliferation Treaty's goals and ambitions," Nunn said.
Colin Powell endorsed it. The Joint Chiefs endorsed it. Now, three former secretaries of defense have urged the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, with periodic reviews. In an op-ed published in the New York Times on 7 January 2001, authors Harold Brown, Melvin R. Laird and William J. Perry endorse a bipartisan approach to nuclear nonproliferation as one of the principle goals of the new Congress.