Ploughshares Blog: Biological and Chemical Weapons

Joe appears on Fox News to discuss WMDs in Libya.  Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Read more »
Posted by Reid Pauly on March 8, 2011
In a stunning trans-Atlantic announcement on December 19, 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush said Libya had agreed, after nine months of secret talks, to publicly disclose and dismantle all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs; to limit its missiles to a range of less than 300 km; and to open the country immediately to comprehensive inspections to verify its compliance. Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on March 1, 2011
As a free Egypt transforms itself, analysts are nervously watching for signs of new nuclear ambitions. Concern revolves around three issues: Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on February 13, 2011
Joe appears on Fox News to discuss WMD programs in Egypt.   Read more »
Posted by Reid Pauly on February 9, 2011
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) garnered the highest number of votes in an online poll to determine the "2009 Arms Control Person of the Year." Lugar was nominated for "his long-running support for U.S. Read more »
Posted on January 4, 2010
 Arms Control Today, published by the Ploughshares-funded Arms Control Association, inaugurates its new digital edition, with full-color graphics and photos, available for free until the end of 2009.  Click here to read Tom Z. Read more »
Posted on November 6, 2009
Amid all of the concern about North Korea's nuclear program, experts at the Ploughshares-funded International Crisis Group warn that Korea’s stockpile of chemical weapons poses another serious threat.  In a recent report, Crisis Group estimated that the North is believed to have between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, including mustard gas, blood agents and sarin.  They can be delivered with ballistic missiles and long-range artillery.  Crisis Group called on the U.S. Read more »
Posted by Sarah Brown on June 18, 2009
A new facility to destroy Russian chemical weapons will officially open on May 29, 2009.  The joint U.S.-Russian project to eradicate the chemical weapons site in the Siberian city of Shchuchye, first proposed in 1996, has been repeatedly delayed. Paul F. Walker of the Ploughshares-funded Global Green USA commented, “This is one of the most historic steps forward ever in nonproliferation. One of the most dangerous chemical weapons arsenals in the world is finally getting demilitarized. Read more »
Posted by Sarah Brown on May 26, 2009
The U.S. Defense Department is seeking $550.4 million in 2010 to prepare sites in Kentucky and Colorado for chemical weapons disposal operations. The Pentagon had earlier indicated it would request $300.4 million but the agency reportedly plans to expedite demilitarization operations by increasing funding by $1.2 billion through 2015. Read more »
Posted by Sarah Brown on May 8, 2009
Interviewed in Politico, former Vice President Cheney warned of a “high probability” of an attempted nuclear or biological attack as a consequence of closing Guantanamo and reversing other Bush-era policies. Joe Cirincione argued instead that “Bush-Cheney policies increased this threat, while efforts to prevent [terrorists] from getting nuclear weapons withered from lack of funding.”  Brian Finlay of the Stimson Center agreed, noting that under Bush, U.S. Read more »
Posted on February 5, 2009