In The News

Why Is This Cargo Container Emitting So Much Radiation?

Andrew Curry October 27, 2011
Screening thousands of cargo containers that arrive daily in any global port is nonstop work. Sealed containers can have false walls and doors or removable hinges to carry illegal drugs, immigrants or difficult-to-detect nuclear weapons. In Italy, inspectors routinely check containers carrying scrap metal, efficiently gathered into groups, for radiation. A maximum radiation reading, a million...

South Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Temptation

Lee Byong-Chul October 14, 2011
The warm welcome accorded to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington this week reaffirmed the close alliance. Since the end of the Korean War in 1953, South Korea has relied on the US to deter threats from North Korea. But with the US in economic decline and China as a rising power in Northeast Asia, South Koreans, particularly conservatives, increasingly question the endurance of that...

China’s North Korean Foreign Policy Decoded

Sunny Seong-hyon Lee July 28, 2011
The US and North Korea today meet in New York to determine if six-nation talks, aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, can resume. Media and diplomatic attention focuses on China, too: The West expects China to scold its unruly neighbor to the north and make it behave. Yet China’s influence is an unknown, explains China-based journalist Sunny Lee. Strong pressure from Beijing could...

Pakistan’s Nuclear-Bomb Maker Says North Korea Paid Bribes for Know-How

R. Jeffrey Smith July 11, 2011
Pakistan was a source of nuclear secrets released to North Korea, Iran and Libya during the 1990s, but the Pakistani government long denied official knowledge of nuclear smuggling operations. A statement and documents released by Abdul Qadeer Khan, founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program, suggest that senior military officers were involved, reports R. Jeffrey Smith for the Washington Post. Pakistan...

Riyadh Will Build Nuclear Weapons If Iran Gets Them, Saudi Prince Warns

Jason Burke June 30, 2011
Saudi Arabia actively campaigns to redirect international attention on Iran’s nuclear program and influence in the Middle East. If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, the West can expect Saudi Arabia will follow suit, Saudi officials advised NATO officials. A warning from Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and ambassador to the US, was implicit, but other Saudi spokesmen were...

Pakistan and the Bomb

Bruce Riedel February 21, 2011
The international community's questions about Pakistani control over its growing nuclear arsenal rankles the nation. Military leaders maintain control over weapons, while democratically elected civilian leaders have nominal authority, explains Bruce Riedel, senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in the Brookings Institution, and author of a new book, “Deadly Embrace:...

China to Block UN Report on North Korean Nuclear Capability

February 21, 2011
A Chinese expert was part of a team that prepared a report for the UN Security Council on North Korea violating sanctions, according to a Reuters article, yet China plans to block the report. The team expressed concerns that the impoverished nation may transfer technology – obtained illegally from Pakistan – to other secretive regimes. “North Korea almost certainly has several more undisclosed...