Category Archives: Regions

Cliff Notes on the May 2013 IAEA Report on Iran

By Kelsey Davenport, Daryl G. Kimball, and Greg Thielmann The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) May 2013 quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear program indicates that Tehran is continuing to move forward on its nuclear program, installing more advanced centrifuges and … Continue reading

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Alleged Syrian Chemical Weapons Use: What’s Next?

By Daryl G. Kimball, Greg Thielmann, and Kelsey Davenport The U.S. intelligence community “assesses with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin,” according to … Continue reading

Posted in Biological and Chemical Weapons, Chemical Weapons, Middle East | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Prague Nuclear Agenda, Part Two

By Tom Z. Collina Four years after the historic speech in Prague laying out his nuclear policy priorities, President Barack Obama must now decide which issues to focus on in his second—and last—term. The administration accomplished many important arms control … Continue reading

Posted in Asia, CTBT, Europe, Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, Iran, Middle East, Missile Defense, New START, Non-proliferation, North Korea, Nuclear Security, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Tactical Nuclear Weapons | Leave a comment

How to Read the North Korean Nuclear Missile Threat

By Greg Thielmann Enduring the continuous barrage of nuclear missile threats coming out of North Korea in recent days is not for the faint-hearted. But seeking to separate the real from the rhetorical is an essential task for policy-makers, pundits, … Continue reading

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Worldwide Threat Assessment (2013)

By Greg Thielmann The “Worldwide Threat Assessment,” which Director of National Intelligence James Clapper presented to the Senate Intelligence Committee on March 12, contains some closely-watched language on evolving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) proliferation threats. Although this year’s edition … Continue reading

Posted in Asia, Iran, Middle East, Non-proliferation, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Russia | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Cost of Ignoring UN Inspectors: An Unnecessary War with Iraq

By Greg Thielmann On March 7, ten years ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Special Commission on Iraq (UNMOVIC) reported to the UN Security Council on the latest results of their inspections in Iraq, monitoring enforcement of the … Continue reading

Posted in Middle East, Regions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Better Odds on Iran Negotiations After Almaty?

By Kelsey Davenport Career Ambassador Thomas Pickering said at a Feb. 25 Arms Control Association event that he would be “willing to put a little money” on progress toward a positive outcome in negotiations with Iran in 2013.  After the … Continue reading

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NATO agrees on new arms control body

By Oliver Meier (BERLIN) On Feb. 8, NATO agreed on the mandate of a new arms control body. Allies tasked the “Special Advisory and Consultative Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Committee” to prepare a dialogue on confidence building and transparency … Continue reading

Posted in Europe, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Tactical Nuclear Weapons, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A First Look at the February 2013 IAEA Report on Iran

By Tom Z. Collina and Kelsey Davenport According to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) February 2013 quarterly report on Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran is continuing to develop its nuclear program and slowly enhancing its nuclear weapons breakout potential. While … Continue reading

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Nuclear North Korea: the View from Seoul

By Kelsey Davenport (Seoul, Republic of Korea)—North Korea’s third nuclear test on Feb. 12 sparked concern in the international community about possible qualitative and quantitative improvements to Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal. But concerns about an increasing number of nuclear weapons on … Continue reading

Posted in Asia, China, Japan, North Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Pakistan, Russia | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment