A Crumbling Foundation: The Future of Arms Control

President Barack Obama signs the instrument of ratification of the New START Treaty in the Oval Office, Feb. 2, 2011. Participants include, from left: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen; Energy Secretary Steven Chu; Defense Secretary Robert Gates; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.; Sen. Richard Lugar, … Continue reading A Crumbling Foundation: The Future of Arms Control

Abandoning the INF Treaty: Risking an Arms Race

Ronald Reagan, then president of America, and his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev, signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987. By: Samira Pakmehr, Columnist On October 20, 2018, Donald Trump declared the United States’ intent to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia. Signed towards the end of the Cold War … Continue reading Abandoning the INF Treaty: Risking an Arms Race

Circumventing MAD: Nuclear War Without the Nukes?

An artist's impression of a Hyper Glide Vehicle. Photo Credit: Forbes By: Madison Creery, Columnist Since the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the mere suggestion of the offensive use of nuclear weapons has received instant global condemnation. Luckily, the strategy of deterrence, underpinned by the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), has thus … Continue reading Circumventing MAD: Nuclear War Without the Nukes?

The Iran Nuclear Agreement as a Deterrent for Cyberattacks

By: Ben Schaefer, Columnist Photo credit: United States Department of State In 2015, the P5+1 and Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which intended to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.[i] The agreement inflamed passions on both sides of the United States political divide. Republicans in Congress insisted that the JCPOA deal would allow … Continue reading The Iran Nuclear Agreement as a Deterrent for Cyberattacks

Is The Threat Of Nuclear Terrorism Distracting Attention From More Realistic Threats?

By: Antonia Ward, Columnist Photo credit: BBC/sciencefocus.com At the final Nuclear Summit of his presidency in Washington D.C. in 2016, Barack Obama said the risk of ISIS or other extremist groups acquiring nuclear weapons remains “one of the greatest threats to global security.”[i] A number of terrorist groups, including ISIS and al-Qaeda, have expressed explicit intentions to … Continue reading Is The Threat Of Nuclear Terrorism Distracting Attention From More Realistic Threats?

No One “Won” the Summit

By: Annie Kowalewski, Columnist Photo by: Getty Images After the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore on June 12, pundits were quick to jump in to assess who “won” the summit. Stepping away from the sensationalism surrounding the “competition” between the two leaders, the summit did not significantly alter the situation on the peninsula. US-DPRK relations remain … Continue reading No One “Won” the Summit

Why the Trump Administration Shouldn’t Scrap the Iran Nuclear Deal

An Iranian woman and her son walk past ballistic missiles on display in front of a large portrait of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in south Tehran. Photo Credit: Atta Kenare, Agence Free Presse/Getty Images By: Doug Livermore, Columnist Photo by: Getty Images Though the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – colloquially known … Continue reading Why the Trump Administration Shouldn’t Scrap the Iran Nuclear Deal

The High Stakes of a Trump-Kim Summit

By: Evan Cooper, Columnist Photo by: Associated Press We do not know precisely when, where, or even if, a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place, but public statements indicate such an event is at least a possibility. The stakes of a potential summit would be extremely … Continue reading The High Stakes of a Trump-Kim Summit

Is Mutually Assured Destruction Back? It Never Left

By: Katie Earle Photo by: Reuters Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual address to the Federal Assembly, outlining his legislative priorities for the year ahead. Customarily the speech occurs in December, but this year the Kremlin delayed the event until March 1, just two weeks before yesterday's presidential election. Putin’s promises … Continue reading Is Mutually Assured Destruction Back? It Never Left

Report on ” The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy” Panel

By: Haley Ade Photo by: Scowcroft Center Dr. Matthew Kroenig, Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and Associate Professor in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; Rebecca Hersman, Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues and Senior Adviser for the International Security Program at the … Continue reading Report on ” The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy” Panel