TOP NEWS North Korea conducts second weapons test in under a week Wall Street Journal Warren, Bullock spar over ‘no first use’ nuclear policy The Hill Trump administration will again waive nuclear sanctions on Iran Washington Post U.S. Nuclear Policy Warren, Bullock spar over ‘no first use’ nuclear policy The Hill7/30/19 Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock sparred Tuesday night over her proposed “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons during the Democratic debate. Europe Russia says U.S. may be aiming to quit nuclear test ban treaty Reuters7/30/19 The United States may be planning to blame Russian non-compliance as a pretext to pull out of the Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a Russian diplomat told the Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday. Middle East Trump administration will again waive nuclear sanctions on Iran Washington Post7/30/19 After an internal policy battle, the Trump administration is set to announce later this week that it will once again waive five different nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, preserving a key part of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal. U.S. Senate targets Saudi nuclear technology Foreign Policy7/30/19 The bipartisan bill follows the revelation that a longtime Trump advisor was pushing for lucrative nuclear deals with Riyadh. East Asia North Korea conducts second weapons test in under a week Wall Street Journal7/30/19 North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off the country’s east coast early Wednesday morning, South Korea’s military said, Pyongyang’s second weapons test in under a week as the Kim regime appears to be adding pressure on the U.S. as nuclear negotiations have hit an impasse. U.S. sanctions North Korean over illicit trade, missile program Wall Street Journal7/29/19 The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a North Korean man, Kim Su Il, on Monday it accuses of evading trade restrictions and being an employee of a government department that helped develop the nuclear-capable missiles Pyongyang fired last week. The Democratic candidates on North Korea’s nuclear weapons Council on Foreign Relations7/30/19 The Council on Foreign Relations invited the Democratic candidates to articulate their positions on twelve critical foreign policy issues before the second set of presidential debates. Opinion/Analysis/Commentary If New START dies, these questions will need answers Defense OneVincent Manzo and Madison Estes 7/28/19 There’s little public indication that the Trump administration is thinking about several things that will happen if the last strategic arms agreement is allowed to expire. Trump’s faulty claim that Iran has changed its regional behavior Washington PostAtthar Mirza 7/30/19 Despite the Trump Administration’s claims that its maximum pressure campaign has effectively stemmed Iran’s disruptive behavior, it has far from fundamentally changing its regional policy. What’s in it for China? A Beijing insider’s surprising insight on nuclear arms control Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceGeorge Perkovich 7/30/19 China has long snubbed invitations to join U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control talks. Carnegie’s George Perkovich and a top Chinese nuclear expert discuss why the United States might regret it if China said yes. Special Interest China’s strategic situational awareness capabilities CSIS: On the RadarElsa Kania 7/29/19 Although traditional shortcomings in strategic early warning have been a serious concern for China, the PLA today is developing a more mature architecture that could enhance its capability to undertake nuclear counterattack and conventional operations. United States’ strategic situational awareness capabilities CSIS: On the RadarRhys McCormick 7/29/19 The United States has extensive and mature strategic situational awareness capabilities across all domains that help to characterize the operating environment, detect and respond to attacks, and discern actual attacks from false alarms across the spectrum of conflict, both conventional and nuclear.