IRAN
Editorial: Policy Implications of Iran’s Fall from Favor in Arab and Muslim Public Opinion
James Zogby, Middle East Online – April 1, 2013
James Zogby details the dramatic shifts that have occurred in Arab and Muslim attitudes toward Iran, its regional policies and its nuclear program.
Opinion: 10 Ways to Understand Iran’s Nuclear Decision-Making
Nabi Sonboli, Al Monitor – March 31, 2013
Nabo Sanboli maintains that Western countries will not benefit if they continue to misunderstand Iran’s religious-rational approach to international issues.
Opinion: The best red line for a nuclear Iran
Ray Takeyh, The Washington Post – March 31, 2013
As the great powers contemplate a solution to the Iranian nuclear conundrum, they would be prudent to appreciate how Tehran uses diplomacy to complement its quest for nuclear arms.
Iran’s FM Optimistic about Upcoming Talks between Tehran, G5+1
Fars News Agency – March 30, 2013
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said he is hopeful about the results of the next round of the talks between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on April 5-6.
Opinion: Obama can keep Reagan’s nuclear-free vision alive
Graham Allison, Stars and Stripes – March 29, 2013
Reagan’s vision of a world free of nuclear weapons was initially rejected by most of the American establishment as naive and dangerous. In the last decade, however, four of the bluest chips from the American Cold War establishment — George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, William Perry and Sam Nunn — have put this back on the American strategic agenda.
NORTH KOREA
NKorea taps reformist premier amid nuclear tension
APA – April 1, 2013
North Korea’s parliament on Monday approved the appointment of a new premier seen by outside experts as an economic reformer one day after top party officials adopted a declaration making nuclear arms and a stronger economy the nation’s top priorities, APA reports quoting Associated Press.
Opinion: North Korea tests the limits of a MAD world
Gideon Rachman, Financial Times – April 1, 2013
The most alarming aspect of the current crisis with a nuclear-armed North Korea is that the regime there might be one of those rare abberations, to which the normal logic of nuclear deterrence does not apply.
Seoul divided over redeploying nuclear arms
Choi He-suk, The China Post – April 2, 2013
North Korea’s Feb. 12 nuclear test and continued military threats have sparked calls for Seoul to take a tougher stance against the secluded regime including enhanced nuclear deterrence. One of the most controversial issues is conservatives’ renewed proposal to redeploy tactical nuclear weapons to South Korea.
Opinion: Firmer hand won’t sever N.Korean relations
Wang Fan, Global Times – April 1, 2013
North Korea declared Saturday the Korean Peninsula is entering a “state of war,” escalating the situation once more. China needs to cooperate more deeply on this issue with the US. This doesn’t mean an alliance, since China’s position is that the six parties involved should cooperate as peers.
North Korea Vows to Keep Nuclear Arms and Fix Economy
Choe Sang-hun, The New York Times – March 31, 2013
North Korea’s leader on Sunday announced a “new strategic line” that defied warnings from Washington, saying that his country was determined to rebuild its economy in the face of international sanctions while simultaneously expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal, which the ruling party called “the nation’s life.”
MISSILE DEFENSE
New Life for Raytheon’s Patriot Missiles
Paul McLeary, Defense News – April 1, 2013
Raytheon announced today that it had received approval from the U.S. Army for a second recertification of the Patriot missile system, which will extend the operational life of the missile from 30 to 45 years. The move comes after a three-year life-extension study conducted by Raytheon and funded by the U.S. government and international customers concluded that the life of the missiles could be extended by another 15 years at a much cheaper rate than buying new missiles.
US and Russia to resume missile-defense talks
Inna Soboleva, Russia Beyond the Headlines – April 1, 2013
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu have agreed to resume talks on European missile-defense, which have been deadlocked since Washington refused to provide legal guarantees that the system under deployment would not target Russian forces of deterrence.
Opinion: Will Russia Take ‘Yes’ for an Answer?
Steven Pifer, The Brookings Institution – March 29, 2013
Hagel’s recent decisions could open the way for resolving U.S.-Russian differences over missile defense, one of the thorniest problems on the bilateral agenda, and remove an obstacle to further nuclear arms reductions — if Moscow can say something other than “nyet.”
