So, researching for three straight months on US-Russian policy, relations, laws, and treaties has shown me that there are tons of acronyms that you need to familiarize yourself with to be able to (a) tell what the evidence is actually talking about (for yourself) and (b) tell the judge what those are (for the judge). Without further ado, here are the acronyms, each with a brief explanation. [Thanks to Josh Ridenour for the nuclear related definitions]
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123 – The Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (123 Agreement). Allows mutual trade of nuclear materials.
ABM – Anti-Ballistic Missile. Pretty self-explanatory.
ASAT – Anti-Satellite Weapons. Basically weapons used in space to blow up satellites.
BMD – Ballistic Missile Defense. Missile defense in the form of ballistic missiles.
CTBT – Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. International Treaty that bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for civilian or military purposes.
CTR – The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program. Goal is to secure post-Soviet nuclear sites.
FCPA – Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. Prohibits bribes to government officials.
FSIA – Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Gives legal immunity to certain SOCs.
IAEA – International Atomic Energy Administration. World intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the nuclear field.
ICBMs – Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. A ballistic missile with a long range (greater than 5500 km or 3500 miles) typically designed for nuclear warheads.
JCIC – Joint Compliance and Inspection Committee. The Agency that will conduct inspections and insure compliance, created by the original START (I) Treaty.
JV – The Jackson-Vanik amendment. Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974. It states that the President of the United States cannot grant Normal Trade Relations status (NTR), or Most-Favored Nation status, to any country that denies its citizens the freedom to emigrate to another country
LOST – Law of the Sea Treaty. Same thing as UNCLOS.
MFN – Most-Favored Nation status. Basically gives trade benefits to countries who have it. All WTO members have to give this status to all other members.
NATO – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A group of countries that protect each other. Primary purpose was protection against Soviet nations.
NPR – Nuclear Posture Review. A legislatively-mandated review that establishes U.S. nuclear policy, strategy, capabilities and force posture for the next five to ten years.
NPT – Non-Proliferation Treaty. Treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons. 5 Nuclear Weapons States: US, Russia, UK, France, and China. 4 Non-parties: India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea (withdrew in 2003).
NTM – National Technical Means. Also called ‘National Technical Means of Verification’. Used to express the scope of a nation’s ability to gather intelligence; in this case, intelligence dealing with nuclear stockpiles under the New START Treaty.
NTR – Normal Trade Relations status. This means that we won’t give extra tariffs or sanctions to countries who have it. Only applicable one year at a time.
NWS – Nuclear Weapon State. One of five countries possessing nuclear weapons, signatory to the NPT.
NNWS – Non-nuclear Weapons State. Remaining 184 countries signatory to the NPT.
PNI – Presidential Nuclear Initiatives. Unilateral pledges to substantially limit and reduce their nuclear weaponry, most notably their tactical or “battlefield” nuclear weapons, such as nuclear artillery shells.
PNTR – Permanent Normal Trade Relations Status. A permanent version of NTR.
SLBM – Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile. A ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from a submarine.
SOCs – State-Owned Companies. Companies/Businesses owned by a country.
SORT – Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty. Most recent nuclear reductions treaty between the US and Russia, but basically an epic fail.
START – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. One of two treaties (START I and New START) designed to reduce and control the amount of nuclear weapons stockpiled by the US and Russia.
TNW – Tactical Nuclear Weapons. Non-strategic use of nuclear weapons.
WTO – World Trade Organization. Primary agreement for worldwide trade. Russia has yet to accede to the Organization.
UNCLOS – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Treaty on oceans and seas and stuff and what countries can do there.