TOP NEWS Iran planning powerful, new generation centrifuges to boost enrichment Radio Farda Australia is third country to join U.S. in patrolling strait of Hormuz New York Times North Korea now able to miniaturise nuclear warheads – Japan defense report The Guardian Nuclear rethink: A change in India’s nuclear doctrine has implications on cost and war strategy Eurasia Review U.S. Nuclear Policy Pompeo concedes challenges on ISIS and North Korea New York Times8/20/19 State Mike Pompeo acknowledged on Tuesday that the Trump administration has faced recent setbacks with North Korea and ISIS, despite President Trump’s proclamation that the extremist group had been vanquished. Middle East Iran planning powerful, new generation centrifuges to boost enrichment Radio Farda8/18/19 The Islamic Republic of Iran is planning to work on introducing a new generation of uranium enriching centrifuges. Australia is third country to join U.S. in patrolling strait of Hormuz New York Times8/21/19 Australia will join a fledgling American-led effort to protect ships from Iranian threats in the critical Strait of Hormuz, the country’s prime minister said on Wednesday. Pompeo warns of ‘new turmoil’ if U.N. arms embargo on Iran lifted in 2020 Reuters8/20/19 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed the international community on Tuesday to work out how to stop Iran from being “unshackled to create new turmoil” when a United Nations arms embargo on the country and a travel ban on the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force expire in October 2020. East Asia Pompeo: N.K. talks haven’t resumed as quickly as hoped Yonhap News Agency8/20/19 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that denuclearization talks with North Korea have not resumed as quickly as hoped. North Korea now able to miniaturise nuclear warheads – Japan defense report The Guardian8/20/19 Japan’s government will reportedly state that North Korea is capable of miniaturising nuclear warheads in a forthcoming defense report. Europe/Russia Lithuania buys $1 million worth of iodine pills as Belarus prepares nuclear power plant launch Radio Free Europe8/19/19 Lithuania says it expects to receive more than 4 million iodine tablets ahead of the planned launch of neighboring Belarus’s first power plant later this year. Opinion/Analysis/Commentary Nuclear rethink: A change in India’s nuclear doctrine has implications on cost and war strategy Eurasia ReviewHrash V. Pant and Yogesh Joshi 8/19/19 During his recent visit to Pokhran, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh argued that India’s adherence to the principle of ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons is not sacrosanct. Project Pluto and the trouble with Russia’s nuclear-powered cruise missile Federation of the Atomic ScientistsJohn Krzyzaniak 8/20/19 The recent Russian nuclear accident (and prior setbacks) show that the Russian quest for a nuclear-powered cruise missile may be a quixotic one. If Trump ends another nuclear treaty, it will be the height of folly CNNMichele Flournoy and Kingston Reif 8/19/19 Over the past 14 months, the Trump administration has withdrawn from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and abandoned the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, both of which have been discarded without a viable plan to replace them. Special Interest Sea power: the U.S. Navy and foreign policy Council on Foreign RelationsJonathan Masters 8/19/19 Like the British Royal Navy more than a century before it, the U.S. Navy has a command of the sea that affords the United States unrivaled international influence.