The rhetoric in the arms control community has changed in the past 5 years. Working to achieve “Global Zero” or a “world free of nuclear weapons” have become common expressions, vocalized by governments and top level officials whom previously subscribed to a much different school of thought. It is unquestionable that U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration have made a massive impact on the strength and direction of the non-proliferation and disarmament regime and thus it is not surprising to have a compilation of essays by nuclear experts entitled “Obama and the Bomb.”
Programmes
A Thorn in Their Side
A Thorn in their Side: The Hilda Murrell Murder? by Commander Robert Green. This book could have been a crime novel except the plot was too complicated for a fictional writer to dream up and, unlike most crime novels, the murder is not solved nor are the real perpetrators apprehended. But it comes very close.
Turn off the Road to War
European Union foreign ministers agreed today a phased imposition of an oil embargo, committing to refrain from making any new contracts and phasing out existing contracts by July 1.
Iran Update: Number 155
- Uranium Enrichment Operations Commence at Iran’s Fordow Facility
- Iran Responds Positively to Offer for New Talks with P5+1; Special IAEA visit to Tehran for Talks possible at the end of January
- E.U. Plans Phased-In Oil Embargo on Iran
New U.S. Global Military Strategy could hint at future moves to reduce dependence on tactical nuclear weapons in Europe
President Barack Obama made an historic visit to the Pentagon on January 5, 2012 to deliver his remarks on the release of the United States’ “New Global Military Strategy”.
The Doomsday Clock should stay where it is
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will tomorrow announce whether the danger of a nuclear cataclysm has moved closer since last year. The minute hand of the Bulletin’s Doomsday clock, which has measured since 1947 how close the world stands from catastrophic destruction through its symbolic proximity to midnight, has stood at six minutes to midnight since January 2010.
The Nuclear World in 2012
This week marks the fifth anniversary of the first Wall Street Journal op-ed from the four former US politicians, often known as the “Gang of Four”, that opened up the recent movement pulling together establishment support for serious moves towards multilateral nuclear disarmament.
Iran Update: Number 154
- Iran invites IAEA to visit; latest Board of Directors report more detailed and critical
- Attack on the British Embassy in Tehran
- European efforts to coordinate sanctions
- New U.S. sanctions package targets Iran’s Central Bank and oil sector