Topic:Nuclear Weapons — Global Security Review %

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Strategic Adversariesallies, America First, American power, artificial intelligence, burden shifting, China, Defense Spending, Deterrence, Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, Europe, First Island Chain, global leadership, Indo-Pacific, Japan, Middle East, missile defense, Monroe Doctrine, national security strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Philippines, quantum computing, regional balance, South China Sea, South Korea, United States, Western hemisphere

America’s Managed Retreat: How the 2025 U.S. National Security Strategy Shifts the Burden to Allies

Sidra Shaukat0 Comments

The United States’ 2025 National Security Strategy (NSS) is a document that has been written under the shadow of economic strain and military overreach, and it raises the slogan of…

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Emerging Threats, Strategic AdversariesArms Control, Article VI disarmament obligations, artificial intelligence-enabled command systems, centrifuges, Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), data sharing, diplomatic strain, Fordow facility, Hwasong-20 missile, hypersonic delivery vehicles, ICBMs, inspection regime, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran nuclear program, MIRVs, missile factories, modernization, multipolar competition, New start treaty, North Korea nuclear development, NPT Review Conference, nuclear alert status, nuclear arsenals, Nuclear Deterrence, nuclear threshold lowering, Nuclear Weapons, treaty expiration, Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), U.S.-Russia strategic stability, Ukraine conflict, unintended escalation, uranium enrichment, verification mechanisms, Yongbyon facility

The Dawn of 2026 and Challenges to Non-Proliferation

Harsa Kakar1 Comment

The year 2026 arrives with looming threats of nuclear weapon employment more than ever, as the world is faced with eroding arms control agreements and the global environment seems increasingly…

AI & Deterrence, Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Emerging Threats, Strategic AdversariesAI models, AI race, AI talent competition., artificial intelligence (AI), China, code theft, command-and-control systems, Cyberattacks, Deterrence, EMP strike, escalation, global diplomacy, grey zone operations, Manhattan Project moment, micro-attacks, National Security, near-peer adversary, Nuclear Weapons, power grid, strategic stability, superintelligence, surprise attacks, system isolation, United States, wargaming

The AI Revolution’s Outsized Impact on Deterrence

Robert Kittinger0 Comments

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on national security at large and deterrence specifically cannot be overstated. The business leaders competing in the field of AI, like Sam Altman, Elon…

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Defense & Security, Emerging Threats, Strategic Adversariesacquired color vision deficiency, Air Force 711th Human Performance Wing, always/never reliability, CAD color vision test, cognitive psychology, color blindness, color vision, D-15 test, delivery platforms, demon core incident, Deterrence Posture, engineers, FAA standards, fallible humans, high-consequence systems, human element, human error, human factors, human performance, human reliability, industrial-organizational psychology, Ishihara test, national laboratories, Nuclear Deterrence, Nuclear Weapons, Pantex Plant, physicists, psychology, QMU, quantification of margins and uncertainty, Rabin test, red-green deficiency, sabotage, Sandia National Laboratories, Titan II missile explosion, tool slips, Tritan defect, Waggoner Computerized Color Vision Test, WCCVT, weakest link

Meet the Human in Nuclear Deterrence

Robert Kittinger0 Comments

Not long ago, uttering words like “human element” or “psychology” at a physics or engineering national laboratory would make scientists’ eyes roll. Their silence was a clear “does not compute”…

Archive, Bonus Reads, Defense & Security, Strategic Adversariesactivities, aggression containment, alliance cooperation, allies, American warfighter, burden sharing, China, comparative analysis, counterterrorism, credible deterrence, decision analysis, Defense Spending, deterrence framework, deterrence strategy, DPRK, Energy Security, extended deterrence, global engagement, Gulf States, hamas, homeland defense, Indo-Pacific, industrial base, interests, Iran, Israel, kinetic operations, Middle East, military assets, military strikes, mutual defense treaties, National defense, national defense strategy, National Security, nonproliferation, North Korea, nuclear proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, objectives, Partners, proliferation control, proxy networks, regional deterrence, regional stability, Russia, sanctions, security cooperation, sovereignty, Straits of Hormuz, strategic shifts, threat scenarios, transnational threats, two-front war, U.S. military power, U.S. policy, United States, uranium enrichment

Deterrence of North Korea and Iran: Interests-Objectives-Analysis Framework

Nathan Heath0 Comments

On June 22, the United States struck multiple Iranian nuclear sites, marking a tipping point in its deterrence of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. It was no longer enough to…

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Defense & Security, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Emerging Threats, Strategic AdversariesAfghanistan, Arms Control, Atomic, China, cold war, Deterrence, global security, Hezbollah, ICBM, India, Iran, Israel, Japan, Middle East, National Security, Nuclear Deterrence, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, security, Syria, Taliban, Terrorism, Title 22, UN

Deterring Nuclear Terrorism in the Era of Great Power Competition

Alexis Schlotterback0 Comments

As the Cold War ended and new counterterrorism priorities took root in the 2000s, the threat of nuclear terrorism cemented itself as the ultimate catastrophic scenario. Dick Cheney famously stated…

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Defense & SecurityCampaign, China, civilian populations, commander in chief, deterrence credibility, deterrence strategy, disarmament campaign, extended deterrence, hair trigger alert, Human Security Lab, impetuous, Law of War Manual, legality, NFU strategy, No First Use, nuclear abolitionists, Nuclear Deterrence, nuclear modernization, Nuclear Weapons, Peter Huessy, president's authority, recklessness, Russia, sole authority, targeting cities, United Nations treaty, University of Massachusetts

The Campaign to End Nuclear Deterrence

Peter Huessy0 Comments

The campaign to prevent the US from deploying nuclear weapons as a deterrent is in full swing. It expanded from opposing the first use of nuclear weapons to opposing all…

Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Bonus Reads, Strategic AdversariesArms Control, ASEAN, Bangkok Treaty, China, cooperative security, disarmament, geopolitical tensions, global nonproliferation, global security, INF, Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, international law, multipolar world, National Security Agency, Negative Security Assurances, New START, nonproliferation, norm-setting, nuclear abstention, Nuclear Deterrence, nuclear diplomacy, nuclear modernization, nuclear threats, Nuclear Weapons, proliferation, regional agreements, regional stability, SEANWFZ, South China Sea, Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, strategic ambiguity, Strategic Arms Reduction Agreement

China’s Support for the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

Nazia Sheikh0 Comments

The recent decision by China to sign the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ) treaty marked a significant shift in regional nuclear diplomacy and a positive step for nonproliferation and arms…

Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Bonus Reads, Strategic AdversariesAtoms for Peace, Ayatollah Khamenei, battle damage assessment, Benjamin Netanyahu, China, Darius the Great, Deterrence, Dmitry Medvedev, enriched uranium, Fordow, GBU-57, IAEA, international relations, Iran, Isfahan, Israel, Masoud Pezeshkian, Natanz, North Korea, nuclear facilities, Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nuclear scientists, Nuclear Weapons, regime change, Revolutionary Guard Corps, Russia, stealth bombers, Twelve Day War, United States, Vladimir Putin

Results in Iran

Sam Stanton, PhD0 Comments

In the early morning hours of June 22, 2025, American aircraft engaged in direct operations against three Iranian nuclear facilities: Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. These attacks involved 125 aircraft and…

Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Deterrence & Foreign Policy, Emerging Threats, Strategic AdversariesAmerican nuclear posture, Iran, Nuclear Weapons, proliferation

Huessy Seminar: After Iran, What Will Policing Nonproliferation Require? with Henry Sokolski

Peter Huessy0 Comments

On July 18, 2025, Henry Sokolski explored the evolving challenges of nuclear nonproliferation in a post-Iran strike environment. He argues that effective nonproliferation requires both sound rules and credible enforcement—neither…

Allies & Extended Deterrence, Archive, Arms Control & Nonproliferation, Strategic Adversariesalliance credibility, American Alliances, anti-access/area-denial capabilities, ANZUS, Asia-Pacific, Australia, Australian Perspective, China, collective defense, combat logistics force., Communism, conventional deterrence, Deterrence, East Asia, Ely Ratner, Extended nuclear deterrence, geography, hub-and-spoke system, Hugh White, international law, Japan, John Foster Dulles, maritime theater, Military Sealift Command, multilateral alliance, NATO, nuclear strategy, Nuclear Weapons, Pacific Defense Pact, Paul Bracken, sea control, sea denial, SEATO, Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, threat perceptions, Treaty of Westphalia, US-Japan alliance, US-led international order, US-South Korea alliance, Western Pacific

American Alliances in East Asia: An Australian Perspective

Christine M. Leah0 Comments

In a recent Foreign Affairs article, Ely Ratner outlines a case for a Pacific Defense Pact. The concept of collective defense in the Asia-Pacific is not a novel idea, however, the historical…