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242. The Political Economy of Nuclear Energy in the United States
- Author:
- Pietro S. Nivola
- Publication Date:
- 09-2004
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Brookings Institution
- Abstract:
- A tendency among commentators, even experts like Bernard L. Cohen, the author of the sentence above, is to regard the complicated story of nuclear energy in the United States as exceptionally troubled and frustrating. The root cause of the troubles and frustrations, moreover, is commonly thought to be more political than economic. The promise of nuclear power in the United States is said to have been dimmed primarily by an eccentrically risk-averse public and an unusually hostile regulatory climate. Practically nowhere else, it is said, have political and legal institutions been so uncooperative. Supposedly the central governments of most other advanced countries have lent far more support to their nuclear industries. And because those governments are assumed to be more aggressive in combating pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, surely “the rest of the world” has been doing much more than America to level the playing field for the development of nuclear energy. But just how valid is this conventional picture?
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons and Politics
- Political Geography:
- United States
243. Nuclear Deterrence, Preventive War, and Counterproliferation
- Author:
- Jeffrey Record
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- During the Cold War, the principal function of nuclear weapons was to deter nuclear attack. Nuclear deterrence was not considered a tool of nonproliferation. The primary mechanisms for halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons were the nonproliferation regime established by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and the U.S. extension of nuclear deterrence to states that might otherwise have sought security through the acquisition of nuclear weapons.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Treaties and Agreements
- Political Geography:
- United States
244. Prospects Brighten for Long-term Peace in South Asia
- Author:
- Rafiq Dossani
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
- Abstract:
- Ever since 1998, the year of India and Pakistan's nuclear tests, many commentators have argued that, in the absence of U.S. intervention, the two nations are headed for armed conflict that will likely end in nuclear war. The logic underlying this view is twofold. First, that religious radicalism—defined as the participation in political and/or military activities by groups in the name of religion—has become sufficiently powerful in Pakistan to make ongoing support for the Kashmir insurgency inevitable. Second is that India's concurrent growth of nationalism and religious radicalism, as well as a rise in economic power, will make the state less willing to tolerate Pakistan's support for insurgency in Kashmir. Against this seemingly inevitable clash, Pakistani President Musharraf is viewed as a lonely holdout against the forces of religious radicalism in Pakistan. U.S. support is therefore argued to be critical for sustaining Musharraf, whether through political support for Pakistan's policies in Kashmir, or economic support. This paper reaches a different conclusion: that peace is about to “break out” between India and Pakistan. Our conclusion is based on the following analysis. First, Islamic radicalism in Pakistan relies (and has always relied) on the army to survive, as it lacks sufficient popularity to influence state policy through political parties or popular agitation. Second, the army has previously supported Islamic radicalism tactically, but not ideologically, providing such support only when it has perceived the state to be in crisis. Contrary to a common view, the elections of 2002 were no different in this respect. Third, Hindu radicalism in India, though gaining in both popular and political support, is insufficiently popular to support irrational aggression against Pakistan. At the same time, India's improved economic prospects have influenced its rulers to favor accommodation with Pakistan. Third, the outcomes of recent elections in India and Pakistan have shifted the Pakistani army's strategic priorities toward negotiating a civilian-military balance, and away from destabilizing civilian politics through “crisis-mode” tactics that have included support for Islamic radicalism.
- Topic:
- Nationalism, Nuclear Weapons, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, South Asia, India, Asia, and Kashmir
245. Eliminating Adversary WMD: Lessons for Future Conflicts
- Author:
- Rebecca K.C. Hersman and Todd M. Koca
- Publication Date:
- 10-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Abstract:
- As tensions between Iraq and the United States worsened in mid-to-late 2002 and as preparations began for Operation Iraqi Freedom, policymakers and military planners began to wrestle with the challenges posed by Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Indeed, Iraqi defiance and deception in the face of United Nations (UN) sanctions, coupled with growing fears of WMD transfer to terrorist organizations—most prominently al Qaeda—were two primary reasons for confronting Saddam Hussein. Just as in the first Gulf War in 1991, deterring and defending against possible Iraqi use of WMD against coalition forces were key concerns for planners. However, as the crisis escalated in 2002, Department of Defense (DOD) planners began to foresee another challenge: how to remove comprehensively and permanently the threat of Iraqi WMD, not just to U.S. troops but also to the Middle East region and the world.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, Nuclear Weapons, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iraq, and Middle East
246. Tactical nuclear weapons: Europe's redundant weapons of mass destruction
- Author:
- Hugh Beach
- Publication Date:
- 04-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Security Information Service
- Abstract:
- THIS PAPER EXAMINES the case for the withdrawal of US tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) from European soil on the following grounds: The new strategic context makes redundant the original purpose of these weapons' deployment. There is a concern that these weapons will play a part in the new US doctrine of pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons to achieve military objectives. There is a need to buttress the non-proliferation regime through reducing the circumstances in which nuclear weapons might be used rather than undermining that regime by devising new purposes for nuclear weapons. The removal of all TNW from nuclear arsenals(especially those in the former Soviet Union) would constitute an important act of disarmament that would increase international and regional security. Their removal would also avoid the enormous (opportunity) cost of sustaining these deployments through planned modernisation of storage facilities. Their removal would be another step towards fulfilling the political commitments made by the US and the other established nuclear powers under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, NATO, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States and Europe
247. Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Preventing and Defending Against Clandestine Nuclear Attack
- Publication Date:
- 06-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- Abstract:
- In this report, clandestine nuclear attack means a nuclear or radiological attack By anyone for any purpose, Against the United States and/or U.S. military operations, Delivered by means other than (military) missiles or aircraft. A large subset of this threat is the smuggling of nuclear weapons, devices, or materials for use against the United States.
- Topic:
- Defense Policy, National Security, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States
248. Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge Nuclear Devastation
- Author:
- Lynn Eden
- Publication Date:
- 11-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for International Studies, University of Southern California
- Abstract:
- Whole World on Fire is about a puzzle that is morbid, arcane, and consequential. Morbid, because it involves the devastation caused by nuclear weapons. Arcane, because it involves secret and obscure calculations by a government bureaucracy tucked away deep within U.S. military intelligence. And consequential, because it involves decisions at the highest level of government about using nuclear weapons.
- Topic:
- Conflict Prevention, International Relations, Government, and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States
249. A Possible Path to Change in US-Iran Relations
- Author:
- Mark Edmond Clark
- Publication Date:
- 12-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia International Affairs Online
- Abstract:
- In 1999, I visited Belgrade one month before the start of Operation ALLIED FORCE as a guest of the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hear the perspectives of key officials on the possibility of a conflict between Yugoslavia and NATO. I heard a singular perspective that NATO would not use force and threats to do so were used only to get the regime of Slobodan Milosevic to respond to diplomatic efforts by the US and EU. There was simply a refusal to recognize that the threat of attack from NATO was real.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Nuclear Weapons
- Political Geography:
- United States, Iran, Middle East, and Yugoslavia
250. North Korea's Nuclear Ambition: Causes and Consequences
- Author:
- Mustafa Kibaroglu
- Publication Date:
- 03-2004
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Institution:
- Uluslararasi Iliskiler
- Abstract:
- Because of the inferiority complex first against Japan, then against the United States, the North Korean leadership embarked upon nuclear weapons development program from the inception of their state. Due to the tangible and comprehensive support provided by the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China in the field of nuclear science and technology, North Korea has seemingly passed a significant threshold on the way to become a de facto nuclear weapons state. As of 2004, it is widely believed that North Korea has already extracted enough plutonium for a couple of nuclear warheads. Combined with its 1,350 kilometer-range ballistic missile capability, North Korea stands as one of the most significant threats to regional and global security and stability. In the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States, Russia and China have greatly reduced their support to North Korea and intensified their efforts to mend the differences between that country and the US, just like Japan and South Korea did for long, with a view to not to pave the way to the escalation of a crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
- Topic:
- Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction
- Political Geography:
- United States, Japan, China, Asia, South Korea, North Korea, Soviet Union, and Korean Peninsula