In The News

Unpalatable Choices: Facing North Korea's Nuclear Reality

Bennett Ramberg September 20, 2016
North Korea has alarmed the international community by detonating another nuclear weapon, its fifth, along with other missile tests. The United States and other nations must develop new military and diplomatic strategies as Pyongyang positions itself as a credible nuclear-armed state, urges author and security analyst Bennett Ramberg. Unfortunately, North Korea cannot be trusted and the regime...

North Korean Missile Launches: Adding Up to Something Very Troubling

Anna Fifield September 9, 2016
North Korea fired three medium-range missiles over the course of a few minutes as world leaders gathered for the G20 summit in Hangzhou. The missiles went about 950 kilometers, landing near Japan, signaling that North Korea could have hit the summit’s host city. Less than a week later, the isolated, poor nation conducted an underground nuclear test. Analysts suggest that North Korea’s missile...

Why Economic Sanctions Have Failed Against North Korea

Dursun Peksen July 11, 2016
Sanctions from the international community are failing to destabilize North Korea’s ruling regime and its nuclear program. “Though the most recent UN sanctions and the U.S. Treasury Department financial sanctions designating North Korea as a ‘primary money laundering concern’ are the toughest measures to date, they have not yet broken the cycle of the regime responding to external pressure with...

China Pivots to the Middle East and Iran

Debalina Ghoshal July 7, 2016
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action implemented in January ends Iran’s nuclear-weapons activities and encourages cooperation on civilian nuclear programs and investment. Though six countries signed the agreement with Iran, China is emerging as a principal beneficiary. “The West struggles to improve relations with Iran, a major market with 77 million people, as many hesitate to risk violating...

Long Nuclear Shadow Could Revive Calls for Abolition

Bennett Ramberg June 21, 2016
Led by Russia and the United States, the world reduced the nuclear stockpile from 60,000 weapons to about 16,000 held by nine nations. The total still poses a grave global threat. Any nuclear attack or accident would kill many, devastating an entire region, which in turn would revive demands for abolition, explains Bennett Ramberg, author and a former policy analyst in the US Bureau of Politico-...

Ambition and Chinese Hostility Push India Closer to the US

Harsh V. Pant June 7, 2016
Narendra Modi, on his fourth visit to the United States as India’s prime minister, makes a case for strengthening ties between the two nations. The relationship centers on trade, defense cooperation and concerns about China. “Indian moves towards the United States are driven in large measure by China’s openly hostile acts vis-a-vis India,” explains author Harsh V. Pant. “The Modi government’s...

Life After the Nuclear Security Summits: Are We Safe?

Richard Weitz April 14, 2016
A series of Nuclear Security Summits since President Barack Obama took office in 2009 have raised global awareness and tightened security of the world’s stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and plutonium. The need for securing stockpiles was highlighted in February after Belgian authorities reported finding a 10-hour surveillance tape during raids linked to the Paris terrorist attacks. The tape...