Iran Moving Back Toward Nuclear Negotiations

On the Radar: Iran warms to Russian proposal on nuclear talks, checking Washington’s sanctions strategy, $8 trillion in military spending, advice for overhauling NATO’s nuclear posture, and a nuclear treehouse.

August 17, 2011 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Rizwan Ladha

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Iran moving back towards the P5+1 table - AP reports that “Iran is ready to resume negotiations on its nuclear program and a Russian proposal will aid the process.”

--Details of the Russian proposal are scarce, but it calls for a “step-by-step” approach where Iran provides confidence on past nuclear weapons work in exchange for easing of international pressure. http://ow.ly/65lGj

--For the latest analysis of this proposal, read the following report by the Institute for Science and International Security - http://ow.ly/1vQTD7

Analysis in 140 characters or less from @TalkingWarheads - “Jalili, Salehi, Ahmadinejad all support Russian ‘step by step’ plan for nuke talks. Waiting for any indication from DC.”

Iran sanctions without long-term, strategic purpose - Ben Loehrke writes, “After 30 years of adapting to sanctions, even more sanctions are unlikely cause the Iranian regime to suddenly collapse or comply with U.S. demands … What are U.S. objectives with Iran and how do sanctions work to achieve them?”

--Loehrke stresses that “sanctions must be part of a comprehensive engagement strategy designed to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons while avoiding war … [this] requires clarifying the goal of U.S. sanctions.” http://ow.ly/1vP5ta

$8 trillion in military spending over past 10 years, including nuclear weapons - “Total Pentagon spending post-9/11 is actually two-thirds greater than in the previous decade. That's quite a jump,” Chris Hellman explains.

--“Are we safer? … Are we spending money on the right types of security?” he asks. http://ow.ly/1vP2n9

Early Quote - “Every day, more and more people are viewing both nuclear tests and nuclear weapons as dangerous relics of the cold war, long-overdue for permanent retirement.” - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon http://ow.ly/65mge

NATO’s nuclear posture needs an overhaul - NATO’s Defense and Deterrence Posture Review “should entail a fundamental review of NATO’s nuclear policies, rather than a mere technical review on the details,” says NATO expert Oliver Meier of the Arms Control Association.

--Among the recommendations, Meier argues the Allies should acknowledge that U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe “do not serve a deterrence or retaliatory function that cannot be provided by the strategic nuclear forces or conventional military assets of Alliance members.” Also, “allies should not call for the [$5 billion] modernization of the B61 nuclear warheads.”

--There is now an opportunity for NATO to make sustainable changes in its nuclear posture review, leading up to the May 2012 NATO summit in Chicago. http://ow.ly/65lmM

This playhouse is a blast - Dietrich Wegner made a 20-foot tall children’s playhouse shaped like a mushroom cloud. It’s entitled Homeland and is a convincing imitation of a nuclear detonation.

--Remember: your kids are never too young to start learning post-nuclear apocalypse survival skills. http://ow.ly/1vQPom

Priorities, priorities, priorities - “While Gates was brought to the Pentagon in 2006 to ‘fix Iraq,’ Panetta’s top priority will be ‘fixing’ the military budget — by managing reductions in spending so they don’t weaken U.S. security. That’s a tall order, and it will test Panetta’s ability to say no.” David Ignatius analyzes Pentagon leadership after Gates. http://ow.ly/65n9d