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Opinion
17 September 2009
Nuclear Weapons

A first take on Obama's missile defense rethink

Thomas R. Pickering

President Barack Obama's decision to terminate U.S. missile defense activities in Poland and the Czech Republic will be met with mixed feelings in Eastern Europe. Currently, I'm in Moscow. And here, there was an immediate positive reaction among Russians. They have always believed that the missile defense system that the George W.

Opinion
17 September 2009
Nuclear WeaponsBiosecurity

Bringing the Soviet military-industrial complex to life

David E. Hoffman

In Moscow on July 27, 1989, at the offices of the Central Committee, a group of high-level officials gathered in the office of Lev Zaikov, the Soviet Politburo member who oversaw the country's military-industrial complex. Sixteen people in addition to Zaikov came to the session, a Politburo "commission" that included Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, KGB Chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, and Chief of the General Staff Mikhail Moiseev.

David E. Hoffman

Hoffman is a contributing editor at The Washington Post, where he previously served as the paper's White House correspondent, Moscow bureau chief, and assistant managing editor for foreign news.

Special Topics
17 September 2009

A first take on Obama's missile defense rethink

Special Topics
17 September 2009
Nuclear Weapons

The Polish reaction

Special Topics
17 September 2009

The Czech reaction

Special Topics
17 September 2009

The false promise of missile defense

Special Topics
17 September 2009

Getting back to basics on missile defense

Special Topics
17 September 2009

The European missile defense folly

Special Topics
17 September 2009

Evaluating Iran's missile threat

Columnists
15 September 2009
Nuclear Weapons

Getting back to basics on missile defense

Joshua Pollack

The Obama administration has inherited a Gordian knot in strategic security affairs, but no sword. Instead of seizing opportunities to make far-reaching changes to post-Cold War nuclear posture, the previous two administrations pursued NATO expansion and national missile defense deployment. These choices set the scene for the Pentagon's missile defense review, which is expected to conclude shortly.

Columnists
14 September 2009
Nuclear Weapons

The false promise of missile defense

Pavel Podvig

Of the many security quagmires confronting President Barack Obama, perhaps the most challenging is how he navigates the Bush administration's decision to place missile defense installations in Eastern Europe. As a candidate, Obama didn't rule out keeping the Bush plan to put a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland, but he did place the onus on the technology--i.e., it had to be viable. True to his campaign promise, upon taking office, he ordered a review of the program, which is about to be completed.

Columnists
3 September 2009
Biosecurity

Reduce the spread of flu with good hand hygiene

Laura H. Kahn

A recent report by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology estimates that a resurgence of the H1N1 influenza virus during the 2009-2010 flu season could lead to 30,000-90,000 deaths, mostly in children and young adults. What's worse, the flu season could begin as early as September, just as school is starting.

Special Topics
2 September 2009

Interview: Mohamed ElBaradei

Special Topics
2 September 2009

The ElBaradei legacy

Special Topics
2 September 2009

Who will succeed ElBaradei?

Special Topics
2 September 2009

Nuclear safeguards for a new nuclear age

Special Topics
2 September 2009

IAEA special inspections after Israel's raid on Syria

1 September 2009

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Volume 65 Issue 5

1 September 2009
Interview

Interview: Mohamed ElBaradei

After three terms, 12 years, and countless unprecedented challenges, the IAEA can't help but be changed by its outgoing director-general. Three months before mohamed ElBaradei leaves office, he explains how such an evolution
1 September 2009
Feature

The ElBaradei Legacy

Mark HibbsAndreas Persbo
As the International Atomic Energy Agency's director-general, Mohamed ElBaradei stood up to the United States, prevented a widening Middle East conflict, and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet as he prepares to leave, the future
1 September 2009
Feature

Dry-Cask Storage: How Germany Led the Way

Klaus JanbergFrank von Hippel
With Yucca Mountain dead, the United States needs an alternative home for its nuclear waste. It would do well to look to Germany, which invented interim dry-cask storage and still relies on the technology today to store its spent
1 September 2009
Feature

Shifting from a Nuclear Triad to a Nuclear Dyad

Jeff Richardson
A senior scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory outlines the rationale for retiring land-based ballistic missiles and leaving a strategic dyad of submarine-launched missiles and air-delivered weapons as the backbone of
1 September 2009
Feature

India's Quest for Dual-Use Technology

Matthew Hoey
Over the last 10 years, India has taken on a significant challenge: become a great power in space-, missile-, and nanotechnology, and do it with the help of a new friend–the United States. But is U.S.-Indian technology-sharing still seen as harmless international engagement?
1 September 2009
Feature

The Armageddon Test: Preventing Nuclear Terrorism

Rolf Mowatt-Larssen
It might not be easy for a terrorist group to obtain a nuclear weapon, but the opportunities are out there. One way to stop them–form an elite intelligence team tasked solely with preventing a nuclear terrorist attack.

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