Yesterday, Senator John F. Kerry wrote an op-ed in response to Mitt Romney’s piece published earlier this week in which the former governor argued against ratifying the New START Treaty. Kerry’s op-ed was not only hyper-partisan but, as The Heritage Foundation’s James Carafano notes, quite inaccurate as well. Kerry’s op-ed was little more than partisan drivel. It lacked any sort of serious analytical rigor. I would expect a better quality of analysis and thought from the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Archive for the ‘Nuclear Proliferation’ Category
WMD Commission Report Card
Last month, the bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism released its assessment detailing how well the U.S. Government has implemented the recommendations presented in its December 2008 report. The Commission explains in the overview, “The assessment is not a good one, particularly in the area of biological threats.” What is more, the assessment concludes that unless significant actions are taken “it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013. That weapon is more likely to be biological than nuclear.”
The Commission’s January 2010 report card covers a lot of material in its…
A Reading List for Nuclear Proliferation
Anyone who studies nuclear weapons policy or nuclear proliferation should check out Brad Thayer’s “What to Read on Nuclear Proliferation” at Foreign Affairs. It identifies several must-reads for academics, students, and policymakers in the nuclear weapons business.
Tim Marshall on Iran
Doesn’t it feel like we’ve been through this Kabuki dance before with the North Koreans? Long, drawn out negotiations that eventually fail to achieve their objective. In order to achieve a satisfactory outcome in the world of diplomacy, you need an honest bargaining partner. It turns out that North Korea was not an honest partner. Does anyone really think that Iran is an honest bargaining partner? If I’m the leadership in Tehran, I’m going to string along the international community, giving the appearance that I’m interested in making a deal–as I rigorously pursue a nuclear weapons capability. Here’s a good report from Tim Marshall of Sky News:
The Dying Art of Nuclear Strategy
[caption id="attachment_723" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The U.S. should consider recalibrating its nuclear force structure by placing a greater emphasis on SLBMs."]
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Nuclear strategists are a dying breed–so too is the very art of nuclear strategy. This year the Obama administration will conduct a review of existing U.S. nuclear policy. The review will touch on a host of issues, from missile defense and nonproliferation to stockpile management and force posture.
The intellectual giants of the Cold War who helped us define nuclear strategy have either passed on or are largely retired. Legends such as Herman Kahn, Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter are…
The Iran Problem
Dealing with Iran will be a major foreign policy challenge for the next administration. And as Sen. Clinton stated repeatedly throughout the Democratic primary, the United States needs a president who can lead on day one. Iran’s latest series of missile tests only reaffirms the need for the United States to emplace missile interceptors in Europe. The successful shoot down of a falling satellite earlier this year by the Department of Defense validated the missile defense system, which is still wrongfully derided by critics.
It is unclear what the Iranian leadership believes it gains by conducting these provocative tests and continuing to propagate belligerent rhetoric. It is probably an effort to bolster its deterrence posture. Unfortunately, Iran only increases the risk of…
Six-Party Sham
The Six-Party talks are set to continue today in Beijing with hopes that North Korea’s recent declaration of its nuclear activities will lead to a breakthrough that puts the country on a path towards complete and verifiable denuclearization. Some have suggested this recent “progress” made on the diplomatic front demonstrates the power of negotiation and is the template by which the U.S. should approach other rogue nuclear aspirants, such as Iran.
John Bolton described the diplomatic ruse of the Six Party Talks best in the Wall Street Journal last week…
There is no advantage to the U.S. in proceeding by phases. To the contrary, North Korea alone benefits by phasing, by stretching out a process that enables Kim Jong Il to stay in power and to maximize the…