US NUCLEAR POLICY
Russia: Nuclear cuts proposed by Obama will require factoring in other weapons
The Associated Press — June 21, 2013
Russia’s foreign minister said Friday that conventional weapons must be taken into account when Washington and Moscow meet to discuss President Barack Obama’s proposal to make radical reductions in their nuclear arsenals.
Review and Outlook: The Obama Age of Proliferation
The Wall Street Journal — June 23, 2013
‘We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation,” President Obama declared on Wednesday, “but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe.” He’s right about the last point, because even as the President offers new dreams of U.S. nuclear disarmament, the world is entering a new proliferation age.
Editorial: A Modest Nuclear Agenda
The New York Times — June 22, 2013
President Obama’s latest nuclear weapons proposals, announced last week in Berlin, were a disappointing example of what happens when soaring vision collides with the reality of obstructive Republican senators, a recalcitrant Russia and a convergence of regional crises.
The Incredible Shrinking Arsenal
Jeffrey Lewis, Foreign Policy — June 21, 2013
…You see, thanks to the goat rodeo that is the U.S. Congress, the current fiscal austerity gripping Washington may drive the United States to levels far below the modest cuts Obama proposed in Berlin. Want to know what unilateral disarmament really looks like? Flip on C-Span and pull up a chair.
IRAN
Iran Rial Gains 15% Since Rohani Win on Optimism for Thaw
Ladane Nasseri, Bloomberg News — June 24, 2013
The Iranian rial has gained 15 percent since the victory of president-elect Hassan Rohani, who has said he will seek an easing of international sanctions in an effort to revive the economy.
Rowhani and Iran’s Unchanging Goals
Reza Sanati, The National Interest — June 24, 2013
Of the many questions concerning the election of Hassan Rowhani to the Iranian presidency, none has provoked more confusion than the the future of Iran’s foreign policy. Accordingly, it is important to bring to light some issues that are often overlooked in Iran’s strategic profile.
Opinion: The role Congress should play on Iran
Michael O’Hanlon and Marvin Kalb, Politico — June 23, 2013
…Congress needs to take up the Iran issue…The decision on whether to have the option of striking Iran’s nuclear capabilities is weighty enough that the present occupant of the White House — whomever that might be — should not have exclusive decision-making power on the matter.
NORTH KOREA
North Korean Diplomat Blames United States for Tensions but Calls for Peace Talks
Rick Gladstone and Jane Perlez, The New York Times — June 21, 2013
In a mix of diplomacy and bombast, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations called Friday for the United States to accept its recently revived proposal for direct peace talks, even as he blamed the Americans for all tensions on the Korean Peninsula starting with the war more than 60 years ago.
DEFENSE SPENDING
Upgrading B61 nuclear bomb doesn’t make sense
Jacob Bennett and Usha Sahay, Knoxville News-Sentinel — June 22, 2013
…Every taxpayer dollar counts, especially in a recovering economy. Why spend $10 billion on an outdated weapon that no longer makes us safer? The B61 proposal is unaffordable, unrealistic and unnecessary.
MISSILE DEFENSE
NATO Contracts Major Missile Defense Upgrade
RTT News — June 21, 2013
NATO Communications and Information (NCI) Agency on Thursday signed a EUR136 million contract with aerospace and defense company ThalesRaytheonSystems for a significant upgrade to NATO’s current theater missile defense command and control capability.
