The report says that nuclear planning for Cold War-style conflicts with an exchange of nuclear weapons is exceedingly unlikely and such planning is a left over from the days of the Soviet Union. The current threats the United States faces today, rouge states, failed states, terrorism, cyber warfare, epidemics or climate change cannot be defended against by nuclear weapons.

With the House Armed Services Committee issuing their version of the FY13 NDAA, Pakistan test firing another nuclear-capable missile, and the IAEA meetings with Iran, this past week was a big one for nuclear security news. Keep up to date with these stories and more in this weeks The Nuke Review.

Last week the House Armed Services Committee produced their final Committee markup of the FY13 National Defense Authorization Act. The bill should go to the House floor for final passage sometime later this month. Included in the bill are some sections that limit the ability of the president to safely reduce, pursuant to the New START Treaty signed with Russia last year, the strategic nuclear forces of the United States.

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Over the past two weeks there have been a series of amazing and promising developments with the Iranian nuclear program and its situation. Beginning with the P5+1-Iran meeting two weeks ago, the American view on Iran’s intractability for dealing with its nuclear program has begun to soften. But it is not clear yet whether or not these negotiations that will take place on the 23rd will do much to achieve a peaceful resolution to this issue.

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