Nuclear Policy News – April 6, 2020

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Top News

Trump administration determined to exit treaty reducing risk of war
Guardian

N.K. propaganda outlet calls recent launches ‘self-defensive’
Yonhap

ANALYSIS: Coronavirus and the IAEA reports: From maximum pressure to humanitarian détente with Iran
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

United States

Missile Defense Agency to inject competition into homeland missile defense contract
Defense News
4/3/20
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to hold a competition that could split up the work among contractors to modernize and sustain America’s missile defense system, which is designed to destroy intercontinental ballistic missile threats.

Trump administration determined to exit treaty reducing risk of war
Guardian
4/5/20
The Trump administration is determined to withdraw from a 28-year-old treaty intended to reduce the risk of an accidental war between the west and Russia by allowing reconnaissance flights over each other’s territory.

ANALYSIS: Fogbank is mysterious material used in nukes that’s so secret nobody can say what it is
The DriveJoseph Trevithick
4/3/20
To this day, details about the weapons in America’s nuclear arsenal, especially regarding their warheads, remain some of the most secretive, while still publically known, elements America’s nuclear weapons enterprise.

East Asia

N.K. propaganda outlet calls recent launches ‘self-defensive’
Yonhap
4/3/20
A North Korean propaganda outlet lashed out at South Korea on Friday for what it called an attempt to mislead the public over its recent “self-defensive” firing drills.

ANALYSIS: Inside US Indo-Pacific Command’s $20 billion wish list to deter China — and why Congress may approve it
Defense NewsAaron Mehta
4/2/20
A $1.6 billion defensive ring around Guam. Millions in new military funding for partner nations. A billion dollars for increased stockpiles of long-range weapons.

OPINION: Tired of worrying about the pandemic? There’s always Pyongyang
The HillChristopher Hill
4/4/20
Malcolm Toon, the iconic American diplomat who served in Moscow in the 1950s and ’60s, and then as ambassador in the late 1970s, famously said of working with America’s Cold War rivals: “If you’re pissing off the Soviets, you must be doing something right.”

Middle East

ANALYSIS: The arms control–regional security nexus in the Middle East
SIPRITytti Erasto
4/5/20
The erosion of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement poses a risk for both Middle East regional security and the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

ANALYSIS: Coronavirus and the IAEA reports: From maximum pressure to humanitarian détente with Iran
Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsRobert Goldston
4/6/20
On March 3, 2020, the new director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, released two important reports.

Russia and Europe

Nuclear weapon law expert suggests furloughing Trident
Scottish Legal
4/3/20
A legal expert on nuclear weapons has joined calls for the UK government to rethink keeping Trident submarines at sea during the coronavirus pandemic.

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