Perry: U.S. Faces Cold War Repeat

Stop the arms race - “‘We’re now at the precipice, maybe I should say the brink, of a new nuclear arms race,’ Perry said at an event hosted by the Defense Writer’s Group. ‘This arms race will be at least as expensive as the arms race we had during the Cold War, which is a lot of money.’” He believes funding for the modernization for the nuclear triad “is foolish when the US is both short of cash for other programs and capable of a robust nuclear deterrence already.”

--“‘Today, probably I would not have said this 10 years ago, but today we now face the kind of dangers of a nuclear event like we had during the Cold War, an accidental war,’ he said. ‘I see an imperative,’ Perry added, ‘to stop this damn nuclear arms race from accelerating again’... ICBMs ‘aren’t necessary … they’re not needed. Any reasonable definition of deterrence will not require that third leg,’” Perry concluded. Read the full story from Aaron Mehta at Defense News here. http://bit.ly/1lyPK0q

Poland not requesting NATO nukes - “Poland’s Defense Ministry denied on Sunday that it is considering asking for access to nuclear weapons through a NATO program under which the U.S. places them on the territory of certain allied states,” reports the Associated Press. “On Saturday, Deputy Defense Minister Tomasz Szatkowski said that the ministry was currently discussing whether to ask to take part in NATO’s so-called Nuclear Sharing program to improve the country’s defenses.”

--“But the Defense Ministry issued a statement on its website on Sunday denying that discussions are underway. The 28-member NATO has three nuclear powers, the U.S., France and Britain, but only the U.S. has provided weapons to allies for nuclear sharing. Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey have hosted nuclear weapons as part of the program.” Read the full article here. http://wapo.st/1ICl0X1

Tweet - @KingstonAReif: "NATO is starting to adjust its nuclear posture in Europe in ways that seem similar...to the Cold War play book" http://bit.ly/1XZ4KRx

Preparing for the final Nuclear Security Summit - “With the March 2016 NSS in Washington quickly approaching, several steps should be taken now to set the stage for the shift to a more sustainable model of nuclear security cooperation. Because the conditions of this final summit are not ideal for new breakthroughs, we propose some modest but useful steps that can aid in advancing the objectives set forth in the first NSS in 2010,” write Leore Ben-Chorin and Steven Pifer for The Brookings Institution.

--“Taken together, these summits have… facilitated the removal of highly-enriched uranium and plutonium from 12 countries and two dozen nuclear facilities, increased security at nuclear storage sites around the world, created new teams to detect nuclear smuggling networks, and much more. Several actions are key to meeting the principal objectives agreed to in 2010. Realizing these objectives before the 2016 summit would signal that the NSS process remains committed to accomplishing what it originally set out to do.” Get the full story here. http://brook.gs/21MbDKG

Iran hawks keep circling - Last week, “the Senate and House introduced resolutions expressing congressional support for state and local divestment measures targeting foreign companies engaged in certain trade-related dealings with Iran,” writes Tyler Cullis for LobeLog. “Passage of these resolutions would complicate the provision of U.S. sanctions relief to Iran and could threaten to undermine the sustainability of the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)].”

--“As a result, the U.S. is obligated under § 25 of the JCPOA to ‘take appropriate steps’ to ensure that state or local laws do not ‘prevent the implementation’ of sanctions relief for Iran… The Obama administration must signal that it is taking serious action to impede the progress of both Senate and House resolutions. Failure to do so would be a show of bad faith to the Iranians that the U.S. intends to ensure that Iran receives the benefit of its bargain under the JCPOA.” Read the full piece here. http://bit.ly/1OfQMWg

UN takes on disarmament - U.N. member states voted last month to create a working group to “attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons.” One of the main goals of the body is to “substantively address recommendations on other measures that could contribute to taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.” Read the full story from Kingston Reif for Arms Control Today. http://bit.ly/1XPTQTm

Tackling disarmament - “‘Now is the time to intensify our efforts.’ And so went the rallying cry from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Monday, as he addressed the growing international threat posed by nuclear weapons... Ban’s call to ‘rid the world of these most destructive weapons’ might have seemed ambitious, but he is planning to travel to the heart of one of the world’s rogue nuclear actors -- North Korea.” North Korea has vowed never to surrender its nuclear weapons, which it views as a “sovereign right.” Given those circumstances “even securing an audience with Kim is a major mission.” Full story in the World Bulletin. http://bit.ly/1SLMZnx

Tweet - @KelseyDav: US Experts Warn of #NorthKorea SLBM Development http://bit.ly/1jLhldH

Quick Hits:

--“Jerry Brown on climate change, nuclear weapons, and the Doomsday Clock,” by Jerry Brown for The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. http://bit.ly/1IQ6gyw

--“Project Chariot planned to use nuclear warheads to create port in Alaska,” by Sean Callebs for On Thin Ice. http://bit.ly/1SLJ61Z

--“Paris, Nuclear Weapons, and Suicide Bombing,” by Alan Robock for Huff Post. http://huff.to/21Knw41

Events:

--“PONI 2015 Winter Conference,” featuring Tom Countryman and TBA feature panel. Wednesday, December 9th and Thursday, December 10th at Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. --“The PMD Report: Reactions and Implications for the Nuclear Deal with Iran,” featuring Mark Fitzpatrick, Ariane Tabatabai, Greg Thielmann and Kelsey Davenport. Thursday, December 10th from 9:30 - 11:00 AM at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Choate Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/21y0q0h

--“Reducing the Risk of Nuclear War in the Nordic/Baltic Region,” featuring Barry Blechman, Alex Bollfrass and Laicie Heeley. Tuesday, December 15th from 12:00 - 1:30 PM at Stimson Center, 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1kRxVdf

--“Implementing the Iran Nuclear Deal: What's Next?,” featuring numerous experts. Thursday, December 17th from 8:30 AM - 3:45 PM at Atlantic Council, 1030 15th Street NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1lsMjIF