NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION
Fall 2012
"Correspondence: Debating India’s Pathway to Nuclearization"
Journal Article, International Security, issue 2, volume 37
By Andrew B. Kennedy, Jason Stone, Gaurav Kampani and Karthika Sasikumar, Former Stanton Nuclear Security Junior Faculty Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom, 2010–2011; Former Associate, International Security Program, 2008–2009
Gaurav Kampani, Karthika Sasikumar, and Jason Stone each respond to Andrew B. Kennedy's fall 2011 International Security article, "India's Nuclear Odyssey: Implicit Umbrellas, Diplomatic Disappointments, and the Bomb."
August 21, 2012
"Cooling the Fever of War"
Op-Ed, Washington Post
By David Ignatius, Senior Fellow, Future of Diplomacy Project
"As Israel and Iran entered this summer of confrontation over Tehran’s nuclear program, the Iranians were also conducting talks with the United States and other leading nations to seek a diplomatic alternative to war," writes David Ignatius, a columnist with the Washington Post and 2012-2013 Fischer Family Fellow at the Belfer Center, "since then, the rumors of an impending Israeli military strike have grown almost daily, but whatever happened to the negotiations?"
The answer is that the “P5+1” talks with Iran have been in recess during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but contact is expected to resume soon between the top negotiators. Talking with Iranian and U.S. experts, I don’t hear any hint of a breakthrough that would ease the war fever, although some useful new ideas have been floated.
August 17, 2012
"How America Can Stop Israel's Slow March To War"
Op-Ed, New York Times
By Dennis Ross, International Council Member, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
"Obama administration officials have made it clear that they believe there is still time and space for diplomatic efforts to succeed in stopping from achieving a capability," writes Dennis Ross, a member of the Belfer Center's International Council.
August 2012
"Assessing the Role of Security Assurances in Dealing with North Korea"
Book Chapter
By John S. Park, Associate, Project on Managing the Atom
This chapter examines the relationship between security assurances and North Korean nuclear decision-making by focusing on four key areas: key geopolitical shocks that had a major impact on the North Korean regime; main sources of security assurances for North Korea over its history; this volume's hypotheses on security assurances based on how North Korea reacted to geopolitical shocks; and conditions under which security assurances may be most effective in dealing with North Korea in the future.
June 2012
Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA
Report
By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
This report marks the culmination of a two-year research project that examined all aspects of the mandate and operations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, from major programs on safeguards, safety, security, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy to governance, management, and finance.
June 2012
"Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA"
Policy Brief
By Trevor Findlay, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
Published along with the report Unleashing the Nuclear Watchdog: Strengthening and Reform of the IAEA — the result of more than two years of research and examining all aspects of the Agency's mandate and operations — this policy brief summarizes the report's key findings and policy recommendations for strengthening and reforming the IAEA.
June 11, 2012
"The Special Senate Committee on Anti-terrorism"
Testimony
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom and Simon Saradzhyan, Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
On June 11, 2012, the Belfer Center's William Tobey, Matthew Bunn and Simon Saradzhyan testified before Canada's upper house of parliament, the Senate, on the threat of nuclear terrorism and strategies to combat it.
June 6, 2012
"Obama's 'Secret Wars' Against America's Threats"
News
By David E. Sanger, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
David Sanger, senior fellow at the Belfer Center and adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, was interviewed on NPR’s “On Point” about his new book on President Obama’s foreign policy efforts, including a cybercampaign against Iran’s nuclear program. Sanger’s book, Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power, was published this week.
May 31, 2012
"Iran's Growing Stockpile"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
“The latest chess match between Iran and six major powers in Baghdad ended last week without any declared breakthrough. This is not entirely surprising. Talks were unlikely to make significant headway with Iran offering to sacrifice a pawn -- 20 percent enriched uranium -- in exchange for the queen -- the lifting of oil sanctions,” Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the IAEA and senior fellow at the Belfer Center, writes in a Foreign Policy op-ed. “In the meantime, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) report on Iran, released May 25, reveals new information, most notably the presence of uranium particles enriched to 27 percent, well above the declared 20 percent enrichment level at the Fordow underground enrichment plant. Right now, the key question that the IAEA is trying to answer is how much uranium was enriched to 27 percent and over what period of time the enrichment took place.”
May 28, 2012
"Prospects for a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East"
Op-Ed, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
By Martin B. Malin, Executive Director, Project on Managing the Atom
As negotiations with Iran over the future of its nuclear program inch toward a possible deal, another intractable Middle East problem with a nuclear dimension is likely to start getting more serious attention. It is the question of whether there is any chance that Israel, Iran, and their Arab neighbors will agree to discuss establishing a regional zone free of all nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and their delivery systems. After decades of backsliding, proliferation, and conflict in the Middle East, the conventional wisdom says the current round of efforts will fail. I think the conventional wisdom is wrong.
