The US appears to be negotiating a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. What does that mean and why should you care? Spend 15-30 minutes perusing through this literature thread to get up to speed (1/n):
(2/n) @MarkHibbsCEIP penned an excellent overview of the geopolitical and technical issues involved in the negotiation of US nuclear cooperation agreements, especially those with restrictions on ENR tech today: carnegieendowment.org/2012/08/07/neg…
(3/n) Along these lines, read @Jessica_Varnum's issue brief on the last US attempt to wield 123s as a nonproliferation tool. She does a great job laying out the history and contours of the debate about the so-called Gold Standard 123s. nti.org/analysis/artic…
(4/n) @ArmsControlWonk also had a great piece in @ForeignPolicy around the same time on the issue: foreignpolicy.com/2012/08/01/its…
(5/n) It is also worth brushing up on a few recent concluded 123s. CRS has excellent reports on both the UAE and Vietnam. Note the big difference between the two (hint: one does not have the Gold Standard). Here is the CRS report on Vietnam: fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R…
(6/n) I would highlight my own work on the issue in @TheNonproReview , where I survey past US efforts to inhibit the spread of ENR, and suggest alternatives beyond Gold Standard that could lock-in Saudi Arabia's nuclear program to a peaceful trajectory: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…
(7/n) H/T to the indomitable Amb. @LauraSHHolgate for pointing out that the US-UAE 123 includes a provision that essentially allows the Emirates to renegotiate the agreement if another country in the region concludes a more permissive 123. See page 8 here: fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/R…
(8/n) There is a debate about whether the Gold Standard is required to reap nonpro dividends, especially since Russia and China are eager to supply civil nuclear tech and services without onerous restrictions. See @Nick_L_Miller in @Journal_IS: mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.11…
(9/n) But for a counterargument, see the recent policy brief from @NuclearPolicy: npolicy.org/article.php?ai…
Or the foundational "supply-side" work by @mcfuhrmann and @kroenig on the drivers of nuclear cooperation among nations: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
Or the foundational "supply-side" work by @mcfuhrmann and @kroenig on the drivers of nuclear cooperation among nations: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.117…
cambridge.org/core/journals/…
(fin) To sum up, you can skim through all of the material mentioned in this thread in about 30-60 minutes and come away with a clear sense of what's going on and at stake when you read (or write) reports about the US-Saudi 123 negotiations
