Protecting US Security by Minimizing the Role of Nuclear Weapons

Checking Cold War assumptions - “After seventy years of indulging fantasies of what nuclear weapons can do, it is high time to acknowledge that they do very little and adapt US nuclear policy, strategy, and forces to those facts,” write Barry Blechman and Russell Rumbaugh in a new report from the Stimson Center.

--America’s conventional military superiority means that U.S. military doctrine and force structure should minimize perceptions of the utility of nuclear weapons, they argue. “US nuclear policy should state clearly that US nuclear weapons serve only to deter others’ use of nuclear weapons against the United States and its allies.” Full report here (pdf): http://bit.ly/1bShXKG

NPT in context - “Since the end of the cold war in 1991, and along with it the threat of a Soviet-US nuclear war, public interest in nuclear issues has declined. This raises the importance of the NPT review as a way to tighten the lid on proliferation and further reduce the still-large Russian and American arsenals,” writes The Christian Science Monitor editorial board.

--“With the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this August, the world can use the occasion to celebrate the fact of a near-universal acceptance against repeating those events. The NPT, even though incomplete in fulfilling its promise, at least brings almost every nation together every five years to affirm a critical path for peace.” http://bit.ly/1PIrm4Q

New bomber - The House Armed Services Committee recently proposed a $460 million funding reduction for the new nuclear bomber. “‘We can keep this system on track and take those reductions,’ [the general in charge of the US Air Force’s nuclear mission] said at a 13 May Air Force Association event in Washington, noting that there would likely be years when money needs to be shifted from another account to support the bomber.” James Drew reports for Flightglobal. Full story here: http://bit.ly/1A2ThKG

Saudi nuclear plans - Saudi Arabia and other Arab states promise to match Iran’s nuclear program after a deal between Iran and the P5+1 is reached, David E. Sanger reports for The New York Times.

--“In fact, the Arab states may find it is not as easy as it sounds. The members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a loose affiliation of nations that make the crucial components for nuclear energy and, by extension, weapons projects, have a long list of components they will not ship to the Middle East.” http://nyti.ms/1JgVaFN

Tweet - @carnegienpp: Carnegie's @ksadjadpour and @MarwanMuasher discuss Iran nuclear negotiations and U.S. relations with Gulf allies: http://ow.ly/MUwRc

NATO concerns - NATO officials have expressed concern regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s public statement regarding putting Russian nuclear forces on alert during last year’s Crimea crisis and possible plans to station nuclear weapons there, Ian Wishart reports for Bloomberg News.

--“This discussion of nukes and the possibility of moving nukes into certain areas or employing nukes if something had not gone correctly in Crimea and all these other things, which have been put out there -- this is not responsible language from a nuclear nation,” said NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Phillip Breedlove. http://bloom.bg/1Hjc47o

House vote - The House will vote today on the Corker-Cardin bill regarding Congressional review of the Iran deal. House Republican leaders have fast-tracked the bill to a floor vote under procedures that prohibit any amendments and requires a two-thirds majority for passage. The Hill has the full story: http://bit.ly/1AZ3CCJ

Understanding North Korea - “North Korea may currently pose a limited nuclear missile threat to its nearest neighbors, but the pace of its long-range missile development has been consistently overestimated. A credible North Korean nuclear missile threat to the U.S. mainland appears to be years away,” writes Greg Thielmann in a new report for the Arms Control Association. Full report available here (pdf): http://bit.ly/1Fgk46T

Counterproliferation still works - “The Czech Republic blocked an attempted purchase by Iran this year of a large shipment of sensitive technology usable for nuclear enrichment after false documentation raised suspicions,” Louis Charbonneau and Robert Muller report for Reuters. http://reut.rs/1L3QjXC

Russia and snapback - Russia will not support strictly automatic reimposition of sanctions if Iran cheats on a nuclear deal, reports Sangwon Yoon for Bloomberg News.

--The U.S. and Russia “agreed to enshrine the terms of any final deal in a new UN Security Council resolution that would outline the procedures for lifting sanctions -- and for restoring them if Iran fails to honor its commitments in the agreement.” U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power stated that “We are going to secure an arrangement to allow for snapback in New York that doesn’t require Russian or Chinese support.” http://bloom.bg/1HeQiyC

Quick Hits:

--”North Korea Test Is Tip of World’s Nuclear Iceberg,” by Debora Mackenzie for The New Scientist. http://bit.ly/1JKA4xE

--“The Summer of War or Peace With Iran” by Jamal Abdi and Trita Parsi in The Huffington Post. http://huff.to/1G9lelb