The Canary in the Nuclear Submarine: Assessing the Nonproliferation Risk of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Loophole

ABSTRACT

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) allows states to exempt nuclear material from international safeguards for use in nuclear submarine programs. This material, however, could be diverted for nuclear weapons purposes without the knowledge of inspectors, creating a potentially dangerous loophole in the treaty. This article argues that exercising that loophole today would amount to admitting a nuclear weapon program, making it a particularly poor pathway to a weapon for a potential proliferant. Still, if states like Brazil ultimately exempt nuclear material from safeguards for a nuclear submarine effort, they could set a dangerous precedent that makes it easier for others to use the loophole as a route to a nuclear weapon capability. There are several policy options available to mitigate the damage of such a precedent; most promising is the prospect of a voluntary safeguards arrangement that would allow international inspectors to keep an eye on nuclear material even after it has been dedicated to a naval nuclear propulsion program.     

YOU CAN'T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT

The 2010 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) produced a Final Document calling for an extension of the principles of the nonproliferation norm as well as steps toward complete disarmament. This article looks beyond the rhetoric, however, to examine recent decisions by great powers to expand nuclear trade with non-NPT countries and the implications of these decisions on the traditional nonproliferation norm of restraint. This article seeks to contribute to constructivist theory by supplementing existing accounts of norm creation and establishment with a new model of norm change. The article develops a case study of the 2008 US-India nuclear deal to highlight the role of elite agency in key stages of norm change, including redefinition and constructive substitution through contestation. It concludes that the traditional nonproliferation norm may be evolving in new directions that are not well captured by existing theoretical frames.     

The South African Denuclearization Exemplar

ABSTRACT

South Africa's nuclear disarmament is a unique historical case, notable in part for the dramatic shift from deception to cooperation. The unprecedented transparency it demonstrated in order to convince the international community of the veracity of their disarmament is heralded as an exemplar for verifiable denuclearization. Less known is how this case affords insights into how a nuclear weapon program can be clandestinely hidden by the ambiguity provided by an otherwise completely legitimate, peaceful, nuclear energy program. Using a variety of open sources, including newly declassified internal South African and US government reports, it can be shown that South Africa employed a variety of deceptive tactics before it disarmed, and even for nearly two years after becoming a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This article reviews that information to derive instructive lessons on the lengths that a nuclear proliferant state might go to conceal its true capabilities and intentions, and to thwart international discovery of the existence and full extent of an existing—or, in this case, a former—nuclear weapon program.     

Asymptotic analysis of periodic policies for the inventory routing problem

In this article, a distribution system is studied where the sum of transportation and inventory costs is to be minimized. The inventory holding cost is assumed to be the same for all retailers. A fixed partition (FP) periodic policy is proposed with tight asymptotic worst‐case performance of 3/2 with respect to the best possible policy. This bound cannot be improved in the class of FP periodic policies. In partition‐based PB policies, the retailers are first partitioned into sets and then the sets are grouped in such a way that sets of retailers within a group are served together at selected times. A PB periodic, policy is presented with tight worst‐case asymptotic performance of with respect to the best possible policy. This latter performance improves the worst‐case asymptotic performance of of the previously best known policy for this problem. We also show that the proposed PB periodic policy has the best worst‐case asymptotic performance within the class of PB policies. Finally, practical heuristics inspired by the analyzed policies are designed and tested. The asymptotic worst–case performances of the heuristics are shown to be the same of those of the analyzed policies. Computational results show that the heuristics suggested are less than 6.4% on average from a lower bound on the optimal cost when 50 or more retailers are involved. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 00: 000–000, 2013     

Lost through non-translation: bringing Clausewitz's writings on ‘new wars’ back in

While Carl von Clausewitz has generally been respected as one of the most profound philosophers of war, his expertise has been regarded as somewhat limited if not even irrelevant to the so-called ‘new wars’ of the post-Cold War world. Many scholars in international relations have claimed that ‘new wars’ are essentially ‘post-Clausewitzian’ and ‘post-trinitarian’ in nature, meaning that they are no longer fathomable through a Clausewitzian framework. However Clausewitz's earlier writings were nearly exclusively dedicated to guerrilla warfare, or what he called ‘small wars’. These writings have been largely overlooked by many analysts of contemporary conflicts. By drawing on his rare and untranslated writings, the article uncovers a critical part of Clausewitz's expertise in asymmetric warfare and shows that, far from being irrelevant in an age where interstate warfare is increasingly being replaced by conflicts between states and semi-/non-state actors, Clausewitz's philosophical writings actually shed new light into the particular interactive dynamics generated during wars waged under conditions of asymmetry.     

基于压缩估计的单星观测定轨方法研究

分析了单星观测模式下的天基测控系统的可行性,并针对该观测模式下轨道确定中法矩阵的特点,提出了一种基于压缩估计的定轨方法,该方法对法矩阵进行变换,避免了法矩阵奇异造成的误差传递。证明了当满足一定条件时,该压缩方法的估计精度要高于传统的定轨方法。并结合单星观测的特殊性,提出了误差传递因子,设计了单星观测下的压缩估计定轨算法。最后以单星模式下的天基测控系统作为仿真背景进行了仿真试验。结果表明,该压缩估计可有效提高单星观测模式下的轨道确定精度。     

基于倾斜开关曲线的小推力器姿态控制方法分析与准极限环控制方法

研究了利用小推力器进行航天器姿态控制问题。从理论上推导了在给定姿态控制精度、小推力器参数以及倾斜开关曲线参数的前提下,能够形成理想极限环控制效果的充分必要条件。对相关文献中倾斜开关曲线设计方法不能形成理想极限环的情况进行了理论分析,提出了一种新的基于倾斜开关曲线的准极限环控制方法,并推导了其控制精度。研究对于航天器应用小推力器实现高精度姿态控制具有较大的工程应用价值。     

War as a System: A Three-Stage Model for the Development of Clausewitz’s Thinking on Military Conflict and Its Constraints

This article presents a new model for the development of Carl von Clausewitz’s thinking on the factors that constrain warfare. The model posits three stages in his thinking that are determined by two system theoretic dimensions. The three stages are friction as a constraint on the effectiveness of the execution of military plans on paper, suspension as a constraint on the intensity of military action and political objectives as a constraint on military objectives. The two dimensions consist of an interactive perspective in the form of causal feedback loops and a holistic perspective in the form of a political system that forms the context of the military subsystem.     

反导预警雷达的优化配置问题研究

根据反导预警雷达的预警任务和配置要求,建立带有可调参数的反导预警雷达优化配置模型.首先,给出雷达对弹道覆盖范围的计算方法,并建立X波段多功能相控阵雷达的优化配置模型.其次,考虑实战中对预警时间和重叠探测区的不同需求,在P波段远程预警相控阵雷达的优化配置模型中引入了可调参数,使输出的方案能同时满足对预警时间和重叠探测区的作战需求.最后,通过实例分析验证了模型的可行性,并且发现预警时间最大化与重叠探测区最大化不能同时实现,反导作战指挥人员应根据实际情况选择适当的可调参数,输出满足实战需求的雷达配置方案.     

科学发展观指导大学生思想政治教育质量提升研究

科学发展观不仅为大学生思想政治教育提出了新的理论指导,同时也为其提出了新的更高要求和新的思想方法。加强和改进大学生思想政治教育是事关中华民族前途命运的根本问题,要提升大学生的思想政治教育质量,必须坚持以科学发展观为指导,用科学发展观统领高校思想政治教育,理清工作思路,创新工作模式,促进大学生思想政治素质、科学文化素质和身体素质的全面发展。