TOP NEWS North Korea Eludes Sanctions, Buying Oil and Selling Arms and Coal, U.N. Report Finds The Wall Street Journal Nuclear ‘Cruise Control’ Can Stop A Spiraling New Arms Race The Hill – Andrew Weber India And Pakistan Take Note: The ‘Madman Theory’ Of Using Tactical Nuclear Weapons Lives Up To Its Name South China Morning Post East Asia Kim Jong Un Has More To Lose If He Tests Missile The Business Times3/13/2019 NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un is showing signs he might fire his first rocket in 15 months. Long-time observers suspect he is bluffing. North Korea rebuilding rocket sites: What does this mean? BBC News3/13/2019 Most of the world’s media have no free access to North Korea, and Kim Jong-un’s Ryongsong Residence isn’t really taking calls from journalists. The best any analyst or correspondent can do is read the signals coming from Pyongyang. North Korea Eludes Sanctions, Buying Oil and Selling Arms and Coal, U.N. Report Finds The Wall Street Journal3/10/2019 North Korea has punched a hole in the web of United Nations sanctions intended to pressure Pyongyang to give up its nuclear-weapons programs and long-range missiles, accelerating its import of petroleum products through illicit ship-to-ship transfers and stepping up coal exports, according to a report to the U.N. Security Council by a panel of international experts that is expected to be issued this week. Russia/FSU/Europe New New START a Nonstarter: Russian Ambassador Defense One3/12/2019 Russia is uninterested in broadening the New START treaty to cover new weapons, the country’s ambassador to the United States said Monday. That’s a blow to the last remaining major arms control agreement between the two original nuclear powers. Russia Says It’s Going to Arm A Submarine With 6 Nuclear ‘Doomsday’ Devices Business Insider3/13/2019 The Russian state news agency TASS said the new Belgorod subs could carry six of the Poseidon nuclear torpedoes, which are sometimes described as drones. Middle East Iran Threatens Defence Overhaul to Counter ‘Suspicious Nuclear Projects’ Euronews3/13/2019 A senior Iranian security official on Wednesday accused regional powers of spending money on “suspicious nuclear projects”, and warned that such threats would force Tehran to revise its defence strategy. U.S. Nuclear Policy Trump Budget Increases Funding for Nuclear Weapons Agency Amid New Production Defense News3/12/2019 The National Nuclear Security Administration will receive an 8.3 percent increase over its current budget, with an eye on completing production of a new low-yield nuclear missile this upcoming fiscal year. Opinion and Analysis Nuclear ‘Cruise Control’ Can Stop A Spiraling New Arms Race The Hill – Andrew Weber3/11/2019 For three years, my colleagues and I have been laying the groundwork for such an ambitious global effort to cap and eliminate nuclear cruise missiles. In private talks with current and former senior officials from the United Kingdom, Russia, China, Germany, Japan and other key countries, we have found broad support and enthusiasm for this approach. India And Pakistan Take Note: The ‘Madman Theory’ Of Using Tactical Nuclear Weapons Lives Up To Its Name South China Morning Post3/13/2019 Although tensions between the nuclear arch-rivals have largely been defused, the underlying conditions that lead to the confrontation remain the same. It is only a matter of time before the next crisis in South Asia erupts. Road From Hanoi To Pyongyang Goes Via Beijing Nikkei Asian Review – James Stavridis3/12/2019 Beijing recognizes that over time, opening North Korea will ultimately make it vulnerable to internal change and potentially take it out of the Chinese orbit. Chinese leaders watched closely as Germany unified at the end of the Cold War and saw the creation of the now huge German economy and its effect on Russia; and they have no intention of allowing that particular historical pattern to be replayed in Northeast Asia.