Arms Control Association. Ellen Tauscher, former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. May 6, 2013.
Former undersecretary of State for arms control and international security Ellen Tauscher outlines her views on the next steps for President Obama’s Prague nuclear risk agenda, within the framework of the Arms Control Association “Annual Meeting on North Korea, the Arms Trade Treaty, and Obama’s Next Steps on Nuclear Risk Reduction.” [Note: contains copyrighted material]
http://www.armscontrol.org/files/Tauscher_Prepared_Remarks_20130506.pdf [PDF format, 12 pages].
Congressional Research Service. April 10, 2013.
In his 2013 State of the Union Address, President Obama stated that the United States would “engage Russia to seek further reductions in our nuclear arsenals.” These reductions could include limits on strategic, nonstrategic and nondeployed nuclear weapons. Yet, arms control negotiations between the United States and Russia have stalled, leading many observers to suggest that the United States reduce its nuclear forces unilaterally, or in parallel with Russia, without negotiating a new treaty. Many in Congress have expressed concerns about this possibility, both because they question the need to reduce nuclear forces below New START levels and because they do not want the President to agree to further reductions without seeking the approval of Congress.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/207885.pdf [PDF format, 36 pages].
Congressional Research Service. April 3, 2013.
This report summarizes what is known from open sources about the North Korean nuclear weapons program—including weapons-usable fissile material and warhead estimates—and assesses current developments in achieving denuclearization.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/207428.pdf [PDF format, 35 pages].
Congressional Research Service. January 2, 2013.
A ban on all nuclear tests is the oldest item on the nuclear arms control agenda. Three treaties that entered into force between 1963 and 1990 limit, but do not ban, such tests. In 1996, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which would ban all nuclear explosions. In 1997, President Clinton sent the CTBT to the Senate, which rejected it in October 1999. In a speech in Prague in April 2009, President Obama said, “My administration will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.” However, the Administration focused its efforts in 2010 on securing Senate advice and consent to ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). The Administration has indicated it wants to begin a CTBT “education” campaign with a goal of securing Senate advice and consent to ratification, but there were no hearings on the treaty in the 111th or 112th Congresses.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/202882.pdf [PDF format, 64 pages].
Congressional Research Service. December 7, 2012.
The principal objective of international sanctions—to compel Iran to verifiably confine its nuclear program to purely peaceful uses—has not been achieved to date. However, a broad international coalition has imposed progressively strict sanctions on Iran’s oil export lifeline, adversely affecting Iran’s economy to the point where key Iran leaders are considering the need for a nuclear compromise.
http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/201984.pdf [PDF format, 88 pages].
