Ratify the Test Ban, Says Carnegie's Jessica Mathews

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This Time, Ban the Test - Jessica Mathews in the New York Times [link]

  • In 1999, there were technical reasons to worry whether a testing ban could be verified and whether American weapons could remain reliable indefinitely without testing. These worries have been erased.
  • That leaves geopolitics. The CTBT requires that 44 named states ratify the treaty before it can come into force. In addition to the United States, eight remain.
  • If the United States and others ratify the treaty, pressure can be put on Iran to prove that when it says it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons, it means it. A signature on a treaty alone wouldn’t stop cheating, but it would be one more legal norm boxing Tehran in.
  • None of this is a sure thing. What we do know is that absent U.S. ratification, none of it can happen. Washington and its allies cannot pressure others to do what the United States won’t. So, after 17 years of a voluntary, unilateral test ban, the United States bears most of the costs of the treaty without its benefits.
  • The positive reason to ratify is that giving up nuclear tests enhances security.

Clinton Says Iran and North Korea Must Curb Nuclear Ambitions - New York Times [link]

  • Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took a tough approach on Wednesday on several proliferation issues, saying that Iran and North Korea must take decisive action to curb their nuclear programs, and not just talk about doing so, if they expected to enjoy an easing of global pressures.
  • Mrs. Clinton hinted at broad changes in thinking since the last [Nuclear Posture] review in 2001. “Now is the time for fresh views on the role of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal,” she said. “We can’t afford to continue relying on recycled cold-war thinking.”
  • “We must do more than reduce the numbers of our nuclear weapons,” she said. “We must also reduce the role they play in our security.”
  • Click here for a full transcript of Clinton's speech, or watch the video below:

A Moment for Hillary's Inner Wonk - Heather Hurlburt in the Daily Beast [link]

  • We face no security threat greater than nuclear weapons. Think about it: Would we care about North Korea if it didn’t have the bomb? Only as a post-dated communist collectors’ item, and a humanitarian tragedy. Pakistan without the bomb? A mess, but not an existential one. 
  • So the agenda to reduce, control, and ultimately eliminate nuclear weapons has unbelievable bipartisan support—former secretaries of State and Defense, national security advisers, senators, generals. Chuck Hagel, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Lee Hamilton, and Tony Zinni all support working to eliminate nuclear weapons.
  • But, and there is always a but, it is wonky beyond belief.
  • The secretary of State to the rescue. Her inner wonk is never far below the surface, and she embraced it fully Wednesday. 

Nuclear Enrichment Deal with Iran Buys Time - David Albright interview on CFR.org [link]

  • A leading expert on Iran's nuclear program, David Albright, says the preliminary agreement announced in Vienna by which Iran will ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia for further processing "allows time for negotiations" to get Iran to freeze its program.
  • But Albright warns that Iran might still block the implementation of this accord, and that time is running out before the United States and its allies have to decide whether to go for more severe sanctions on Iran.
  • Note: Albright is President of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a Ploughshares Fund grantee.

Iran Brings Urgency to U.S.'s Need to Ratify Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - Deepti Choubey in The Hill [link]

  • Proliferation threats like Iran make U.S. ratification more urgent and a smart global security strategy. After the U.S. and China ratify, the major powers will have another tool for impeding Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
  • Banning tests undercuts the drive for prestige, as it becomes an unlawful activity. By legally committing itself to the global norm against nuclear tests, Iran could reduce concerns about its nuclear program. Not doing so increases the skepticism from countries that until now have kept an open mind about Iran’s “nuclear file.”
  • Considering these [scientific] advancements [since 1999], opposition to ratifying the CTBT is equivalent to handcuffing the U.S. in its efforts to prevent other nuclear weapon states from emerging.

A View from the Dark Side

At Bush Administration Reunion, Cheney Attacks Obama ... Again - Jake Tapper's Political Punch [link]

  • As is his wont, Cheney took the time to criticize President Obama.
  • Of the president's plan to alter missile defense plans in Eastern Europe, Cheney said, "I consider the abandonment of missile defense in Eastern Europe to be a strategic blunder and a breach of good faith."
  • On Iran, the former vice president said President Obama "has moved blindly forward to engage Iran's authoritarian regime. Unless the Islamic Republic fears real consequences from the United States and the international community, it is hard to see how diplomacy will work."
  • Click here for a link to the full transcript of Cheney's remarks.