Strategic Trust-Building

The EastWest Institute, a nonpartisan organization which focuses on global challenges, said it brought six U.S. experts and six Russian experts together for the first time to produce a joint threat assessment on Iran's nuclear and missile potential. It said key conclusions were presented in February to U.S. National Security Advisor, Gen. James Jones, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev...

The EastWest Institute says Iran could build a nuclear weapon in one to three years, but it would take up to 15 to develop long-range technology that would pose a threat to the West.

A report by a group of Russian and American scientists and engineers at the EastWest Institute concludes that although Iran could build a nuclear device within one to three years of deciding to do so, it would not be able to deliver a long-range weapon for many more years. The scientists also say that a U.S. missile defense system being considered for Central Europe would be useless against an Iranian nuclear weapon.

MOSCOW — After months of prelude, Russian and American teams sat down in Moscow on Tuesday to begin renegotiating the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start, a key plank in the promised “reset” of relations between the countries... Separately, a report released Tuesday by the EastWest Institute, a New York-based policy organization, concluded that a European missile defense system — a bone of contention between Russia and the United States — would not protect against a nuclear threat from Iran. The group recommended canceling plans to station radar facilities and interceptor missiles in Poland and the Czech Republic, deployments the Kremlin sees as a threat...

The anti-ballistic missile system, which the US wants to use to protect itself and Europe from a possible strike from Iran, is not up for the job, a joint US-Russian threat assessment says. The report, published on Tuesday by the non-partisan independent think-tank EastWest Institute, is the result of one year of work by both American and Russian scientists and missile experts. It provides an estimate of Iranian present and future capabilities to produce a nuclear warhead and a delivery device to attack Europe or the continental US as well as the proposed anti-missile system’s ability to counter such an attack....

Press TV - Tue, 19th May 2009 A new study by a US-based think tank questions the effectiveness of Washington's planned anti-missile defense system in Eastern Europe. "The Obama administration should conduct a serious technical review of the capabilities claimed for the proposed European missile defense system," said a study published by the New York-based EastWest Institute.

The study, "Iran's Nuclear and Missile Potential", both undermines the plans, proposed by former US President George W. Bush and the likelihood of an "imminent" attack from Iran.

A planned U.S. missile shield to protect Europe from a possible Iranian attack would be ineffective against the kinds of missiles Iran is likely to deploy, according to a joint analysis by top U.S. and Russian scientists.

Click Here for a Russian Translation of the Washington Post piece

A team of US and Russian technical experts want to put the kibosh on US plans for putting a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

There are two angles to this story: first, it's an important step in rebuilding relations with Russia -- or pushing the famous "reset" button -- which is a big step in itself. Second, it's part of a judicious and careful Obama opening to Iran, downgrading the alleged threat from that country, and boosting chances that the opening might succeed.

A team of U.S. and Russian scientists says deploying missile defenses in Eastern Europe would do little to protect against an attack from Iran. The report from the EastWest Institute says Iran is at least five years away from the technology needed to carry out such an attack, and the proposed U.S. shield "could not engage that missile." Washington Post, The (05/19)

The United States and Russia on Tuesday began the first round of negotiations aimed at replacing a landmark Cold War-era nuclear disarmament treaty that expires in December, officials said.