Another noteworthy comment by David Albright in the course of his testimony was on the challenges governments and international organizations face in addressing illicit trade. For example, he wrote:
PSI is not a panacea: The Bush Administration has placed too much reliance on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). Lack of actionable intelligence has severely undercut the usefulness of the PSI. International legal problems in intercepting ships on the high seas also inhibit its practical application. For example, the UN Security Council resolution on North Korea highlighted the risk of a military confrontation breaking out if a North Korean ship is intercepted by the US Navy, undermining support for one of the main stated rationales of PSI.
Oddly enough, for all the star-studded fanfare the Bush administration gave it, PSI has not received that much attention.
But at the risk of appearing immodest, BASIC has done a lot of work analyzing PSI. We have written papers and even held a roundtable on it. You can find all of our work here on our website.