In The News

At the Nuclear Security Summit, Real Action on the Sidelines

April 1, 2016
Global leaders attending a Nuclear Security Summit are determined to stop nuclear capabilities of North Korea and terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Analysis by Stratfor suggests that meetings on the summit’s sidelines could produce the most security gains. The United States pressed for reinforcing UN sanctions against North Korea – though the defiant country is reported to have test-fired...

Radioactive Material Stolen in Iraq Raises Security Concerns

Ahmed Rasheed, Aref Mohammed and Stephen Kalin February 19, 2016
A camera containing the radioactive isotope of iridium went missing in Iraq in November, and the concern is that the material could fall into the hands of Islamic State terrorists and be transformed into a weapon. The camera, owned by a Turkish firm and used for oil drilling, was last seen in US facility in Basra. “The material is classed as a Category 2 radioactive source by the IAEA, meaning...

US, Other Nations Condemn North Korean Launch of Long-Range Rocket

Ralph Ellis, K.J. Kwon and Tiffany Ap February 8, 2016
North Korea launched a satellite into orbit around the earth. The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting and condemned the launch. “U.S. officials have said the same type of rocket used to launch today's satellite could deliver a nuclear warhead,” reports CNN. “China, the Soviet Union and the United States have all used intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, to launch...

Nuclear Blackmail – Pakistan and North Korea Are Adept Practitioners of This Art

Nayan Chanda January 18, 2016
North Korea may be dramatic and Pakistan quiet, but both nations use nuclear weapons as diplomatic tools, suggests Nayan Chanda, founding editor of YaleGlobal Online, for the Times of India. “While North Korea has repeatedly defied the United Nations and tested its weapons to dramatically attract international attention, Pakistan has used its nuclear arsenal more quietly, as an indirect...

North Korea’s Nuclear Test Deepens Chinese Dilemma

Shim Jae Hoon January 7, 2016
China continues to gamble on regional security by placating the Kim dynasty in North Korea. The world’s most populous nation, the second largest economy, is the North’s leading benefactor and trade partner. The country of 25 million is isolated, impoverished and backward, its leaders intent on amassing a nuclear arsenal. The regime surprised the world with an underground blast, claiming a...

North Korea Leader Touts “Thrilling Sound” of Hydrogen Bomb in Test Order

January 6, 2016
North Korea announced it has tested a “miniaturized hydrogen bomb,” reports the Times of India. North Korean state television showed a copy of Kim Jong Un’s signed order, anticipating “the thrilling sound” of the nation’s first hydrogen bomb. The test was in direct defiance to orders from the country’s ally, China. “While a fourth nuclear test had been long expected, the claim that it was a...

Rethinking North Korean Missile Capabilities

Nah Liang Tuang December 23, 2015
North Korea conducted a flight test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile from a floating barge in November. “[E]ven as anti-DPRK watchers might feel a sense of schadenfreude when Pyongyang’s missile development team stumbles and falls, or even snigger at the lackluster qualities of their missiles, gloating is not only premature but ill-advised,” warns Nah Liang Tuang for the Diplomat. He...