Council: Front and Center

An update on arms control, national security, and politics from Council for a Livable World

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is the Council’s affiliated 501(C)(3) research organization.

Nukes of Hazard Podcast:

Cooperative Threat Reduction or: How I Stopped Worrying and Got Rid of the Bomb

When the Cold War ended, four separate countries suddenly inherited the former Soviet nuclear arsenal. Destroying and removing those weapons was a herculean effort, and it couldn’t have been done without the bipartisan leadership of two U.S. Senators. We tell the story with Senators Nunn and Lugar, as well as former Assistant Secretary of Defense Andrew Weber.

What’s News:

North Korea is not the Soviet Union and Trump is Not Kennedy

The current situation on the Korean peninsula is often likened to the Cuban Missile Crisis. But there are also important differences between the two, argues Center Board Member Col. Richard Klass (Ret.) in an op-ed in Al Jazeera. To read the op-ed, click here.

Save the INF Treaty — but not by repeating history

Center National Advisory Board Member Amb. Thomas Graham Jr. and Scoville Fellow Bernadette Stadler wrote an op-ed in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists examining the limits of simply repeating history and responding to the Russian violation of the INF Treaty with our own. To read the op-ed, click here.

Council and Center Quiz:

Previous Winners and This Week’s Quiz

Council Quiz Winner: Eugene Gorrin was the first to correctly state that Geoff Diehl is the former Trump campaign staffer challenging Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts’ 2018 Senate race.

This Week’s Council Quiz: Name the process invoked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to limit debate on the National Defense Authorization Act.

Center Quiz Winner: Joseph Garske was the first to rightly name the Marshall Islands as the present-day country where the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958.

This Week’s Center Quiz: How many nuclear tests did the United States conduct before voluntarily implementing a moratorium on testing in 1992?

The first person to send us the correct answer will get a shout out in next week’s newsletter. Send your answers to jmckeon@clw.org.

Center in the Press:

Senior Policy Director Alexandra Bell was quoted in Buzzfeed News about the proliferation risks of nuclear energy. To read the article, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was quoted in the Christian Science Monitor on the militarization of space. To read the article, click here.

Policy Analyst James McKeon was quoted in WIRED on North Korea’s August 29 missile launch. To read the article, click here.

Policy Analyst James McKeon was interviewed on CTV on North Korea’s nuclear test. To watch the interview, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was quoted in NZ City on North Korea’s nuclear test and the progression of its nuclear and missile programs. To read the article, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was quoted in USA Today on North Korea’s capability to target a U.S. City with a nuclear weapon. To read the article, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was interviewed on RN Breakfast about North Korea’s nuclear test. To listen to the interview, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was interviewed on WHRO program HearSay with Cathy Lewis about North Korea. To listen to the interview, click here.

Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle was quoted in Politico on the implications of North Korea’s nuclear test. To read the article, click here.

Senior Policy Director Alexandra Bell and Senior Science Fellow Philip Coyle were quoted in Politico on the consequences of developing new low-yield nuclear weapons. To read the article, click here.

What We’re Reading:

The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World

On a hot summer afternoon in 1928, the leaders of the world assembled in Paris to outlaw war. Within the year, the treaty signed that day, known as the Peace Pact, had been ratified by nearly every state in the world. War, for the first time in history, had become illegal the world over. Check out the book by Scott Shapiro and Oona Hathaway by clicking here.