CNS News & Views: January 2023

Middlebury Institute of International Studies

January 2023

Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea’s Nuclear Program

North Korea remains a puzzle to Americans. How did this country—one of the most isolated in the world and in the policy cross hairs of every U.S. administration during the past 30 years—progress from zero nuclear weapons in 2001 to a threatening arsenal of perhaps 50 such weapons in 2021?

Between 2004 and 2010, Dr. Siegfried Hecker made seven trips to North Korea to explore ways to reduce the danger posed by Pyongyang’s advancing nuclear weapons program. Released on January 10, 2023, Dr. Hecker's book, Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea’s Nuclear Program brings readers inside the North Korean nuclear program. Dr. Hecker goes beyond the technical details—described in plain English from his on-the-ground experience at the North’s nuclear center at Yongbyon—to put the nuclear program exactly where it belongs, in the context of decades of fateful foreign policy decisions in Pyongyang and Washington.

CNS Washington, DC Residential Program on North Korea Sanctions

The CNS Washington, DC office hosted a weeklong residential program focused on the implementation of United Nations Sanctions on North Korea. Program participants hailed from eight countries across Southeast Asia. Topics explored included requirements of UN sanctions, trends and tactics of North Korean sanctions evasion, export controls, proliferation finance, and sanctions related to maritime vessels, finance, labor and DPRK nationals, dual-use goods, luxury goods, joint ventures, and scientific cooperation.

The week culminated with a set of case study exercises where participants worked together to identify and address hypothetical cases of North Korean sanctions evasion. The robust discussion which followed emphasized both the variety of approaches taken in implementing sanctions and the commonalities of challenges faced by countries in the region regarding North Korea’s sanctions evasion.

Expanding Access To Peaceful Uses Of Nuclear Power

Energy lies at the heart of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all will open a new world of opportunities for billions of people. Many countries around the world are interested in introducing nuclear power as an additional energy source as a way to achieve these development goals.

VCDNP Senior Research Associates Anthony K. Stott and Ingrid Kirsten authored a case study on expanding access to peaceful uses of nuclear power. Using the IAEA Milestones Approach, (a program management framework intended to help Member States that are considering or embarking on a new nuclear power program), authors analyze key aspects of how the country of Ghana implemented its nuclear power program. This case study aims to share lessons learned in order to benefit other countries interested in or already embarking on new nuclear power programs.

Read the case study

2022 Export Control Fellowship Program

The CNS Washington, DC office welcomed government officials from across Latin America and Southeast Asia in July and October 2022, for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Office of Nuclear Export Control (ONEC) Export Control Fellows program. Launched in 2005 by the ONEC, this year's Latin America and Southeast Asia-focused programs represented the 17th and 18th iterations of the Export Control Fellows Program.

Export controls provide essential tools for preventing non-state actors and proliferators from acquiring WMD-relevant commodities. This program provided opportunities for government officials working on trade control-related areas to engage in intensive academic studies on export control systems. With five weeks of virtual programming, followed by an in-person week in Washington, DC, the program positioned fellows to apply the practical knowledge gained from participation in the fellowship to current job responsibilities in home countries.

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