TOP NEWS U.S. Defense Secretary says he favors placing missiles in Asia Reuters Iran to further reduce commitments to nuclear deal: foreign minister Reuters Trump’s coalition of one Politico U.S. Nuclear Policy US formally withdraws from nuclear treaty with Russia and prepares to test new missile CNN8/2/19 The US military prepares to test a new non-nuclear mobile-launched cruise missile developed specifically to challenge Moscow in Europe, according to a senior US defense official. U.S. Defense Secretary says he favors placing missiles in Asia Reuters8/3/19 U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that he was in favor of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia relatively soon, a day after the United States withdrew from a landmark arms control treaty. Warren’s pledge to avoid first nuclear strike sparks intense pushback The Hill8/4/19 Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren is taking heat from all sides over her proposal to make it official U.S. policy not to be the first to use a nuclear weapon. Middle East Iran to further reduce commitments to nuclear deal: foreign minister Reuters8/3/19 Iran will take another step to reduce its compliance with a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday without elaborating East Asia North Korea is a no-show at Asian summit, snubbing Trump administration again Los Angeles Times8/4/19 The Trump administration was hoping to quietly resume nuclear-disarmament talks with North Koreans at a major Asian summit here this week, but Pyongyang’s officials were a no-show. ‘Kim does not want to disappoint me:’ Trump downplays a series of North Korean ballistic missile launches CNBC8/2/19 President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Friday to downplay a series of North Korean ballistic missile launches and defend its leader, Kim Jong Un. S. Korea-U.S. military exercise begins despite N. Korea warnings Kyodo News8/5/19 South Korea and the United States began a joint military drill Monday despite warnings from North Korea, South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong Doo told parliament. Multilateral Arms Control End of missile treaty leaves a major vacuum in NATO defense New York Times8/2/19 NATO repeated its support for the United States’ decision to abandon the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces agreement on Friday and said it would respond in a “measured and responsible way” to a deployment of missiles by Moscow that violated the pact. Opinion/Analysis/Commentary Trump’s coalition of one PoliticoNahal Toosi 8/2/19 The president has yet to get serious buy-in from other countries for an operation to protect oil tankers sailing past Iran. With a Democrat, a cooler head would prevail on Iran New York TimesCarol Giacomo 8/2/19 Leading contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination are in agreement with most Americans on the U.S. rejoining the JCPOA U.S.-D.P.R.K. negotiations: Time to pivot to an interim agreement 38 NorthRobert Einhorn 8/2/19 Prospects for overcoming the current impasse will depend heavily on whether the Trump administration is now prepared to recognize that the North is unwilling, at least at the present time, to give up its nuclear weapons—and whether, as a result, the administration is now prepared to consider an agreement that imposes significant constraints on DPRK capabilities but falls short of requiring complete denuclearization in an agreed time frame.