DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media, which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.
A senior official at the US Department of State previewed the imposition of chemical and biological weapons control and warfare eliminations sanctions on Russia. (August 8, 2018)
“We are today announcing that we’ve determined under something called the CBW Act [Chemical Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991]… that the Government of the Russian Federation has used chemical or biological weapons against international law or against their own nationals. This is a triggering factor under the CBW Act for the imposition of mandatory sanctions.
We notified Congress today that pursuant to this act we intend to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation in a number of respects, the most significant of which is the imposition of a presumption of denial for all national security sensitive goods or technologies that are controlled by the Department of Commerce pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations,” he announced.
The March 2018 poisoning of Sergei Skripol, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence service, by a Novichok agent under orders from the government of Russian Federation, triggered the latest round of sanctions.
This is the third time in the history of CBW Act that the United States has imposed sanctions for using prohibited chemical and biological weapons under the statute. The United States, as specified in the legislation, imposed sanctions on Syria in 2013 and on North Korea earlier this year for the use of VX in the assassination of the North Korean President’s brother in Kuala Lumpur.
This first round of sanctions on Russia will restrict all state-owned and state-funded enterprises from purchases of national security controlled goods from the United States. Potentially, over 70% of Russia’s economy and 40% of its workforce could be impacted. Historically, Department of Commerce licensing records indicate that over half of Russian requests contain at least one item on the export control list.
Under the first round of sanctions aero gas engines, electric devices, integrated circuits and test and calibration equipment will receive an automatic “presumption of denial” instead of a “case-by-case” approval designation. There are waivers to ensure continuity for ongoing space flight activities and some commercial passenger aviation.
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Russia has 90 days during the initial round to meet a specific set of criteria which would halt a second, wider tranche of sanctions under Section 307(B) of the Act. The statute requires Russia stop using chemical and biological weapons in violation of international law. To discharge the sanctions Russia also must provide reliable assurances it will not resume the behavior and allow on-site inspections. According to the legislation, acceptable observers may come from the United Nations or another impartial internationally-recognized organization.
US Space Force to Become 6th Branch of Military
For the first time in 75 years the United States intends to set up a new branch of the military. On Thursday, August 9, Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary James Mattis made the historic announcement at the Pentagon, saying the new “Space Force” will be a reality by 2020.
Vice President Pence said: “Now the time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of our armed forces, to prepare for the next battlefield. … The time has come to establish the United States Space Force. What was once peaceful and uncontested is now crowded and adversarial. Today, other nations are seeking to disrupt our space-based systems and challenge American supremacy in space as never before … the United States will not shrink from this challenge.”
The Trump Administration is calling for Congressional legislation to create the new Space Force to counter Russian, Chinese, and North Korean attempts to disable US satellite systems, build cutting-edge missile technology, and other space-based weapon systems, that would allow attacks on the US mainland, including Washington, DC.
Funding for the new branch will be in the President’s 2019 budget due out next February. The concept has received wide support from the Joint Chief of Staff’s office and most of the military branches. The Air Force, which currently handles the bulk of American space efforts under the Space Force Command located in Colorado, is the one branch rigorously opposing the idea. US Senators are expected to give support to the new branch as it has garnered wide support among most of the military.