On October 1, 2008 the US Congress passed the US-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. The long anticipated agreement would allow US companies to trade nuclear technology, information, and material to India. It has faced several hurdles, including first passing the US Congress in 2006, the Indian Parliament in July, the IAEA Board of Governors in August, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group in September. Controversy surrounds the agreement because, India is not an established member of the nonproliferation regime and it detonated nuclear devices in 1998.
Analysis
As Public Spending Belts Tighten, Costly Dreams of Force Projection are Protected
Whilst spending on public services is to be tightened in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), public money is being wasted on new carriers and Trident submarines irrelevant to the security threats facing Britain.
Russian resurgence and diplomacy
Whether the Russian operation against Georgia was premeditated or not, the leadership has used it effectively to strengthen nationalistic support within the country, and to challenge the view domestically and internationally of expanding, unbridled US dominance.
NATO nuclear sharing: Opportunity for change?
There is pressure on the US and NATO to remove nuclear weapons from Europe and an opportunity for change at the forthcoming Alliance summit, where plans are afoot to open the Strategic Concept for rev
The Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver
The NSG has granted India a waiver; however, members believed an unconditional waiver would undermine the non-proliferation regime and criticized the US position.
Iran update: number 126
Summary
- IAEA suggests that Iran may have attempted to combine its missile and nuclear technologies; Iran refuses to fully cooperate with its inquiries
- UN Security Council passes resolution req
Getting to Zero Update
In this issue: Commitments to disarmament and arms control ; Country reports.
Launch of Adelphi 396: Abolishing nuclear weapons
George Perkovich is the leading author of a new Adelphi paper, commissioned in part by the UK Foreign Office and trailed by Margaret Beckett, whilst Foreign Secretary, in a speech at the Carnegie Conference in 2007 about the technical and political aspects around moves towards a world free of nuclear weapons. The paper was launched in Washington on 16th September at the Carnegie Endowment.