Top News Pakistan Conducts Test of Nuclear-Capable Nasr Missile The Diplomat Trump Administration Begins Production Of A New Nuclear Weapon NPR Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea and Iran: From Transformational to Transactional Lawfare Russia/FSU/Europe U.S. Plans Suspension of Nuclear Treaty With Russia, Official Says Bloomberg1/28/2019 The U.S. plans to suspend its obligations under a 1987 nuclear weapons treaty with Russia after a deadline passes this weekend and the Trump administration inches closer to full withdrawal from a pillar of Cold War diplomacy, a White House official said Monday. Vladimir Putin Joins Donald Trump In Inviting North Korea’s Kim Jong Un To High-Level Meeting Newsweek1/28/2019 Russian President Vladimir Putin has joined President Donald Trump in inviting North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to meet with him, although the precise dates of the meetings have not yet been determined, according to officials. South Asia Pakistan Conducts Test of Nuclear-Capable Nasr Missile The Diplomat1/26/2019 On Thursday, the Pakistani Army Strategic Forces Command conducted a successful flight test of the Nasr close-range ballistic missile. A nuclear-capable system, the Nasr (Hatf-IX) is designed to deliver low-yield nuclear weapons to a range of up to 70 km. Multilateral Arms Control The Ailing INF Treaty: What to Know Council on Foreign Relations1/28/2019 The world could be standing on the verge of a new nuclear arms race. A Cold War–era pact that has kept the United States and Russia from stockpiling a whole class of the most destructive weapons—the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty—has been ailing for years and could now be on its way to the morgue. Its demise would likely reshape the military balance in Europe and beyond, and it could usher in a dangerous new era of nuclear brinkmanship. U.S. Nuclear Policy Trump Administration Begins Production Of A New Nuclear Weapon NPR1/28/2019 The U.S. Department of Energy has started making a new, low-yield nuclear weapon designed to counter Russia. The National Nuclear Security Administration says production of the weapon, known as the W76-2, has begun at its Pantex Plant in the Texas Panhandle. The fact that the weapon was under production was first shared in an e-mail to the Exchange Monitor, an industry trade magazine, and independently confirmed by NPR. Opinion and Analysis In Trump’s World, Nukes Are Self-Defense Foreign PolicyWilliam Sposato 1/28/2019 Facing the reality of a nuclear North Korea, worsening relations with ostensible ally South Korea, and an unpredictable partner in Washington, Japan’s government is ramping up its military defenses, shedding many of its postwar taboos. Could the ban on nuclear weapons also be sent to the scrap heap at the same time as the country gets a real army? The idea seems far-fetched, but Japan is increasingly alone in a fast-changing Asian security environment. Special Interest Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea and Iran: From Transformational to Transactional LawfareRobert Litwick 1/27/2019 The Trump administration’s strategy toward North Korea and Iran—countries the administration has designated as “rogue” states—is at an impasse. After his June 2018 summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un, President Trump tweeted that “there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.” But with the Kim regime balking at its vague commitment to denuclearization, Trump will now hold a second summit with the North Korean leader in late February 2019 in the hopes of putting things back on track. In tandem, the Trump administration is pressing European allies to follow its lead and withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement, as Trump did in May 2018, and re-impose economic sanctions to generate “maximum pressure” on the Tehran r