October 8, 2013 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke

Urging diplomacy - In a letter to President Obama, a group of 35 senior security experts applauded recent efforts to find a negotiated solution with Iran. “The hard work of diplomacy begins now. Decades of distrust and lack of contact between the two countries will complicate the task of reaching agreements that will provide us the assurance we require that Iran's nuclear program will be used only for peaceful purposes…The diplomatic option is the right one at this time in view of the initiatives taken by the Iranian government that were made possible in part by your past policies. We wish you well in this constructive and important new undertaking,” wrote the experts.

--Signers include: Amb. John Beyrle, Avis Bohlen, Amb. Ryan Crocker, Les Gelb, Rep. Lee Hamilton, Amb. Christopher Hill, John Limbert, AMb. William Luers, Jessica T. Mathews, Joseph Nye, Amb. Thomas Pickering, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Amb. Frank Wisner and many others. Full letter here. http://bit.ly/1ffPlKK [1]

Approaching Geneva - Iran is headed into nuclear talks next week in Geneva with the U.S. and the other negotiating partners on the P5+1. Both negotiating teams are already jockeying for position, with the U.S. and Iran publicly urging each other to come into talks with more cooperative approaches.

--The latest position from Iran could signal Iran’s desire to speed up negotiations from the incremental approach now on the bargaining table to a bigger approach that discusses the endgame for resolving the nuclear issue, suggested Alireza Nader of RAND. “This is what, I think, the U.S. is potentially interested in -- a big-for-big approach, in which both countries lay out a road map and communicate to each other what their ultimate goals are regarding the nuclear program,” said Nader. Full report by Indira A.R. Lakshmanan of Bloomberg. http://bloom.bg/1aiXyYz [2]

Oak Ridge shutdown - Workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, have begun preparing for an orderly shutdown in response to Congress’ stalling on funding the federal government. The Y-12 shutdown will put on hold much of the facility’s nuclear weapons projects and nuclear materials work. John Huotari at Oak Ridge Today has the story. http://bit.ly/1gn561n [3]

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Background for talks - Next week’s talks with Iran and the P5+1 are an opportunity for Iran to demonstrate its seriousness on resolving the nuclear issue and for the U.S. and its negotiating partners to clarify how sanctions might be lifted in exchange. But “negotiators are not starting with a blank slate,” notes Walter Pincus in an overview of the state of play with Iran. Full article in The Washington Post. http://wapo.st/18Mxbel [8]

Looking back - “A September to Remember: The General Assembly’s Historic Opening for Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran” by Joe Cirincione in The Interdependent. http://bit.ly/17dOGS3 [9]

Russia’s new missile - Russia could test fire a new ICBM - the RS-26 - before the end of the year, according to RIA Novosti. The missile’s specifications are not public, but it “reportedly can be outfitted with a solitary warhead or with multiple independent reentry vehicles,” writes Global Security Newswire. http://bit.ly/1aiPNlF [10]

History in perspective - “How The Pentagon Exaggerated Russia’s Cold War Wonder Weapons” by Kyle Mizokami for War is Boring. http://bit.ly/16vaJa1 [11]

Tweet - @steven_pifer [12]: Olympic torches went out 4 times in 2 days in Moscow; made by factory that builds missiles for Russian subs. http://t.co/dUdibTEaes [13]

Nuclear security - Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) is working to increase congressional support for nonproliferation efforts and strengthen the institutional memory of Congress on nuclear security issues. With the Cold War over and several leading nuclear policy legislators retired, there is need for political support on nuclear security issues, explains Rep. Fortenberry in an interview with Emelie Rutherford of Global Security Newswire. Full Q&A here. http://bit.ly/1b7lfnX [14]

Speed read:

--“Shutting Down Nukes: Who Needs a Triad?” by Bill Hartung in The Huffington Post. " target="_blank">http://huff.to/19d4o1w [15]

--“Why it Matters that Netanyahu Doesn’t Know that Iranians Wear Jeans” by Max Fisher of The Washington Post. " target="_blank">http://wapo.st/GKS9RP [16]

--North Korea said it put its military on alert and ratcheted up aggressive rhetoric toward the U.S. and South Korea. Reuters has the quotes. http://reut.rs/19xoodd [17]

--”US lauds moves to destroy Syria chemical arsenal, praises Assad” by Lesley Wroughton in Reuters. http://reut.rs/GF2uOG [18]

Events:

--”A Discussion with Ken Pollack, Author of Unthinkable” Wed. Oct. 16 from noon-1:00 at the Middle East Institute. Details here. http://bit.ly/1b3xnX3 [19]

--”Minimum Deterrence: Examining the Evidence” discussion with Doug Feith, John Harvey, Amb. Robert Joseph, Adm. Richard Miles and Keith Payne at the Hudson Institute. Wed. Oct. 16th from 12:00-1:30pm. Lunch will be provided. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/17g8Dqg [20]

--”The End of Overkill? Reassessing U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy” Discussion with Benjamin Friedman, Elbridge Colby, Hans Kristensen, Matt Fay and Christopher Preble. Oct. 15th at noon at the CATO Institute. http://bit.ly/1hwKUYC [21]

--”Securing The Nuclear Enterprise: What Nuclear Crises Teach Us About Future Security Threats” Discussion with Matt Stokes, Henry Sokolski and Brian Finlay at Stimson. Tues. Oct. 22 from 11:30-1:00. Details here. http://bit.ly/17dNvBY [22]

Dessert:

Shutdown and nuclear logic - “How Cold War Game Theory Can Resolve the Shutdown” by Nicholas Thompson in The New Yorker. http://nyr.kr/19elyOd [23]

What’s the Korean word for “chalet”? - North Korea is rushing to build a luxurious ski resort - the Masik Pass resort - in an attempt to demonstrate the country’s cultural standing and, likely, to respond to South Korea’s hosting of the 2018 Winter Olympics. AP reports about the unfinished resort, describes the labor poured into it and questions the economic wisdom of building a multimillion-dollar ski resort in North Korea.

--Sanctions hitting home: The Swiss government recently blocked plans for North Korea to import cable car and ski lift equipment. North Korea’s ski association called this “a pity,” but said the project will continue. "We can make nuclear weapons and rockets...We can build a ski lift," he said. Full story here. http://n.pr/15kcwOh [24]