Carnegie Moscow Center
Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, department supervisor at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, was killed in a car bomb explosion in Tehran that Iranian officials have already accused both the United States and Israel in playing a part in.
The situation in Syria is unlikely to improve in the near future. It is increasingly likely that the violent domestic unrest can only be resolved through a regime change.
Given the current domestic political situations in Israel and Turkey, improving relations between the two nations will likely require external intervention.
During a visit to Russia, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il said he would be ready to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear production if international six-party talks, which ended in 2008, resume.
The United States needs regional assistance, particular from Pakistan, to resolve the problems and challenges facing Afghanistan.
The realization that both the United States and the Soviet Union shared an interest in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons led to a 1968 agreement that existing nuclear weapons states would work toward nuclear zero if other states agreed not to develop nuclear weapons.
Without a continued NATO presence in Afghanistan to facilitate a regional approach to resolving the problems facing the country, the creation of a stable security situation in Afghanistan is impossible.
The fire in the spent fuel pool in Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the explosion inside another reactor have opened more pathways for radiation to be released, prompting the nuclear industry to reconsider whether their designs for reactors are sufficient to withstand significant natural disasters.
Having cleared the Senate, New START is now proceeding towards implementation, but the method for verifying the dismantlement of warheads remains a key challenge that must be resolved in a future agreement.
The Obama administration recognizes that the weaponization of outer space is a threat to U.S. security and has expressed willingness to hold talks about the future of arms control in space.