The Obama disarmament paradox
Last April in Prague, many thought the president signaled a strong commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free world. His recent considerable budget request for the country's nuclear weapon complex suggests otherwise.
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The Obama disarmament paradox: A rebuttal
President Barack Obama's support for a nuclear-weapon-free world and his large budget request for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex are not as incongruent as one might think.
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Reducing the role of nuclear weapons
The first step--the United States should declare a no-first-use policy, signaling to the world that its nuclear arsenal is for deterrence and deterrence only.
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Confronting twenty-first-century nuclear security realities
President Obama has outlined an aggressive strategy to address today's most dangerous nuclear threats. Here are six policies that will help make his agenda both successful and sustainable.
Biological threats: A matter of balance
Yet again, the WMD Commission has given Washington a failing grade on its preparations to prevent bioterrorism. But the commission's concerns are misplaced.
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Grassroot efforts to impede bioterrorism
Scientists from around the world are partnering with industry to move beyond treaties and regulations as a way to ensure the appropriate use of biological tools.
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How to prevent the next biological agent attack
The investigation of the 2001 anthrax mailings demonstrates that the United States has a long way to go before it's capable of preventing a bioterrorist attack.
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Restricting the role of biosecurity
The focus of biosecurity should be limited to the prevention of the misuse of life science research for terrorist aims.
Enhancing cooperation between the health and climate sectors
Despite the well-known relationship between climate change and health, WHO has been only tangentially involved in major international climate efforts--a situation that must change.
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Bringing climate change into global governance
Even taken together, today's international governance organizations aren't capable of addressing the changing climate. The necessary step toward rectifying this problem: a new financial architecture that supports both adaptation and mitigation strategies.
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Reflections on the U.N. climate change negotiations in Bali
The elusive road map to a global climate agreement begins with science--which is exceedingly clear about what our targets must be.
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A neglected climate strategy: Empower women, slow population growth
Instead of pouring resources into expensive geoengineering research, we should pursue low-tech reproductive health and women's empowerment programs that have widespread social benefits and can reduce CO2 emissions.
Germany's slowing nuclear phaseout
A new conservative German government has thrown the country's nuclear power phaseout into doubt. But it's unclear just how long a reprieve its reactors will be given.
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The reality of France's aggressive nuclear power push
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is promising to sell his country's nuclear power technology to any country that wants it--but how plausible is his offer?
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2008 world nuclear industry status report: Western Europe
As nuclear power's contribution declines in Europe's overall energy mix, efforts to build new plants are being met with legislative and technical delays.
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Nuclear waste repository case studies: Germany
With Germany's political parties in disagreement about how to dispose of the country's high-level nuclear waste, its final disposition is in a state of gridlock.
Web Edition
Columnists
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Profile
Extended deterrence and the tactical nuclear mirage
Tactical nukes aren't necessary to demonstrate Washington's commitment to the security of its allies. Nor do they determine whether such allies will seek nuclear weapons of their own.
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Profile
Do professional ethics matter in war?
The U.S. military's controversial use of embedded anthropologists in Iraq and Afghanistan is both unethical and ineffective. It's time to shut this program down.
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Profile
Assessing the QDR and 2011 defense budget
The fiscal year 2011 defense budget calls for yet more military spending--a trend that the new Quadrennial Defense Review only encourages.
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Profile
Better incorporating ethicists into the life sciences
As advances in the life sciences continue at a breakneck pace, bioethicists will be needed to guide researchers through serious dual-use dilemmas.
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Profile
What to do about tactical nuclear weapons
Washington and Moscow shouldn't try to find a place for tactical nuclear weapons in the overall balance of their relationship. Instead, the two countries should take them for what they are--weapons with absolutely no military value.
Analysis
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Germany's slowing nuclear phaseout
A new conservative German government has thrown the country's nuclear power phaseout into doubt. But it's unclear just how long a reprieve its reactors will be given.
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Nuclear weapons: The modernization myth
Some who oppose new disarmament goals argue that Washington is dozing while other nuclear powers modernize their forces, threatening to surpass U.S. capabilities. Here's why they're wrong.
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Enhancing cooperation between the health and climate sectors
Despite the well-known relationship between climate change and health, WHO has been only tangentially involved in major international climate efforts--a situation that must change.
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Despite economic downturn, nuclear energy commerce is still worrisome
Although the economic crisis has diminished chances of a widespread nuclear renaissance, concerns remain that countries interested in nuclear energy could push wary neighbors toward nuclear weapons.
Op-Eds
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The Six-Party Talks: Outlining a true restart
If any renewed discussions with North Korea are to be successful, Washington must confront reality--namely that Pyongyang possesses a nuclear weapon capability--and revamp its expectations accordingly.
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The climatic consequences of nuclear war
For far too long the nuclear weapon states have ignored one of the most devastating causes of significant climate change--nuclear war.
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The Obama disarmament paradox: A rebuttal
President Barack Obama's support for a nuclear-weapon-free world and his large budget request for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex are not as incongruent as one might think.
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Activating a North Korea policy
For once, all is quiet with North Korea--providing Washington with the perfect opportunity to change its hard-line stance against Pyongyang to a strategy of engagement.
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The Obama disarmament paradox
Last April in Prague, many thought the president signaled a strong commitment to a nuclear-weapon-free world. His recent considerable budget request for the country's nuclear weapon complex suggests otherwise.
Special Topics
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Solutions for Copenhagen
As the climate change meetings kick off in Copenhagen today, many skeptics suggest little progress can be made in the next two weeks. This isn't for lack of solutions. In fact, for months, Bulletin authors have been proposing ways in which to build and support international strategies toward slowing climate change. Are the world's politicians and diplomats listening?
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Semipalatinsk: 60 years later
Between 1949 and 1989, the Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in what is today Kazakhstan. It did so with little regard for the local population's safety or health. Sixty years have gone by since the first test, but for the Kazakh people, the Soviet testing program still presents a complicated legacy.
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European missile defense reversed
It's official. The Obama administration announced today that the contentious Bush-era missile defense system proposed for Eastern Europe is no more. Russia welcomed the news; Poland and the Czech Republic were dismayed. But it's clear that administration officials agree with what Bulletin experts have said all along--the plan was rife with technical and political problems.
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Current Edition
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Nightmares of nuclear terrorism
The author, an accomplished former counterterrorism official at the CIA and Energy Department, outlines the nuclear terrorism scenarios that keep him up at night--and suggests how best to prevent them.
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India's nuclear arms control quandary
While the international community seems ready to move forward on the CTBT, FMCT, and achieving nuclear zero, New Delhi's participation likely will be limited until its leaders believe that they possess a nuclear arsenal capable of minimal deterrence.
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Unconventional thinking: Why conventional disarmament must precede nuclear abolition
The movement to abolish nuclear weapons threatens to consume political capital better spent addressing more immediate threats to international security: conventional weapons such as combat aircraft, naval vessels, and small arms.
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The growing threat of space debris
The danger to orbiting satellites from space debris has been known for decades, yet accidents and intentional antisatellite weapon tests still pose serious threats. Better rules are needed to govern increasingly busy near-Earth space.