ARTICLES AND OP-EDS
May 22, 2013
"China’s No-First-Use Policy Promotes Nuclear Disarmament"
Diplomat
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
"If China abandons its no-first-use nuclear pledge, which has guided China’s nuclear strategy since its first nuclear test in 1964, it would severely undermine the global disarmament process, potentially preventing the U.S. and Russian from further reducing their nuclear arsenals and even encouraging the U.S. to expand its nuclear forces. Is China really changing its nuclear policy?"
AP Images
May 15, 2013
"U.S. Action in Syria Could Sway Iran on Nukes"
Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad must be pleased at how, within a week, the conversation has shifted from his regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons to an international peace conference on Syria’s civil war.
Spring 2013
"Insights on the Nuclear Negotiations with Iran"
Middle East Journal, volume 67
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Written at a time when Iran's nuclear issue, a subject of diplomatic efforts since 2003, remains unresolved, it would be reasonable to glean what explanations the book can provide to this end. Meanwhile, Iran has steadily progressed toward nuclear weapons capability and continues to disregard UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions. It is subject to increasingly tightened international sanctions and censure. Can Iran move away from steps that have caused its economy to tailspin and walk away from an isolated path?
May 3, 2013
"Out on a Presidential Limb"
The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"...[I]n the event of a worst-case scenario in which negotiations completely fail, Barack Obama has committed himself to an unprovoked military attack on Iran, which would have a disastrous effect on world public opinion and lead to unpredictable human and material damage."
AP Photo
April 22, 2013
"China Moves Cautiously Ahead on Nuclear Energy"
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
By Hui Zhang, Senior Research Associate, Project on Managing the Atom and Shangui Zhao, Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, September 2012–March 2013
"Although China has every intention of continuing nuclear energy development, in the aftermath of Fukushima it has approved a number of plans to enhance safety standards. All of them emphasize that the pace of growth should be controlled to minimize risk."
April 18, 2013
"Dealing with North Korea—What Comes Next?"
Diplomat
By Terence Roehrig, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
"A military strike against North Korean nuclear facilities would be very dangerous, possibly setting off a chain of events that could wreck the peninsula. South Korea has made absolutely clear that it will retaliate if North Korea initiates some type of provocation but a direct military strike to eliminate its nuclear program is unlikely. Finally, despite some indications of unhappiness with Pyongyang's actions, there are limits to what China is willing to do to exert pressure on North Korea."
Associated Press
April 6, 2013
"Painfully Following Iran in the U.S. Media"
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
One of the most annoying aspects of spending time in the United States, as I have just done with a month’s working visit there, is to follow the news coverage of Iran in the mainstream American media. Well, calling it “news” coverage is a bit of a stretch, because the mainstream American media is not really reporting news about Iran, but rather repackaged ideological attacks and threats that emanate primarily from the American and Israeli governments.
April 5, 2013
"Obama's Nuclear Vision - or Illusion?"
Boston Globe
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government, Harvard Kennedy School
"Four years ago today, President Obama gave his first speech abroad. In Prague, he announced a bold vision for a “world without nuclear weapons.” Four years on, it is fair to ask: How is that working out? Assessing all the positives, and all the negatives, are we closer to the president’s aspiration — or further from it?"
April 2, 2013
"Why Nuclear Powers Should Start Walking Toward Global Zero"
RIA Novosti
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"On April 5, 2009 President Barack Obama gave a speech that was supposed to set the agenda for his presidency in international security. “I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons,” he proclaimed in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Prague. Four years later, however, this drive to achieve “Global Zero” seems to have waned to a point when even another round of modest reductions in US and Russian arsenals appears difficult to achieve."
February 20, 2013
"A Chinese Silver Bullet for North Korea’s Nuclear Program?"
RIA Novosti
By Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"North Korea’s nuclear test last week indicates that the regime's race to acquire long-range nuclear missiles may have entered its final stretch. If this is the case, then those countries that have been fighting, in vain, to rein in Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions might soon find themselves with only one possible secret weapon of their own: China," Simon Saradzhyan of the Belfer Center.
