In The News

To China, North Korea Looks Radioactive

Joseph Kahn February 2, 2003
China’s reluctance to negotiate directly with North Korea about its nuclear program has surprised the Bush administration and Chinese foreign policy experts. China’s interests could be seriously threatened if North Korea is not dissuaded from building nuclear weapons. Such a buildup in North Korea could shift the balance of power in the region, should surrounding nations like Japan revive their...

Satellites Said to See Activity at North Korean Nuclear Site

David E. Sanger January 31, 2003
It seems the fear of many analysts about North Korea is coming true. On January 28 a YaleGlobal article raised the possibility that North Korea may be rushing to reprocess its 8,000 rods of spent fuel into weapons-grade plutonium and that it could even be done without being observed by spy satellite. Today this new article in the New York Times quotes US intelligence sources as saying that "...

A Quietly Growing Nuclear Danger in North Korea

Nayan Chanda January 28, 2003
Since the first test of a nuclear weapon at Alamogordo, New Mexico on a summer day in 1945, a terrible device for mass slaughter has continued to gain ground. Although only five permanent members of the UN Security Council are nuclear weapons powers, two others - India and Pakistan - have blasted their way into the nuclear club. Israel, which, like India and Pakistan, has not signed the nuclear...

Text, Chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix's Report on Iraq

January 27, 2003
In compliance with the U.N. resolutions governing the weapons inspections in Iraq since November, Chief Inspector Hans Blix reported today to the Security Council about the progress of his team. Mr. Blix both commended the Iraqi government for granting access to weapons sites and lamented the Iraqis' lack of compliance with the substance of weapons restrictions. Questions still remain as...

North Koreans Still Demand Direct Talks With the U.S.

James Brooke January 26, 2003
Many countries in the region of North Korea have sent diplomats to its capital, Pyongyang, in recent weeks, hoping to quell the dangerous storm currently brewing over that country’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea itself is simultaneously condemning these diplomatic efforts and calling for negotiations and a nonaggression pact with the United States only. Meanwhile, the possibility of armed...

Bush at the Rubicon

Strobe Talbott January 23, 2003
US President George W. Bush seems to have his heart set on going to war against Iraq. No matter what entreaties for patience are offered, he appears more convinced than ever that military action to bring down Saddam Hussein is the only way to ensure Iraq will not threaten the world with biological and chemical weapons. – YaleGlobal

Why We Know Iraq Is Lying

Condoleezza Rice January 23, 2003
In an article in the New York Times, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice says that Iraq's behavior shows it does not intend to cooperate with the United Nations resolution calling for its disarmament. Contrasting Iraq with other nations that have voluntarily disarmed in the recent past – including South Africa, South Africa, Ukraine and Kazakhstan – Rice says "Iraq is not...