Is Putin Irrational? What Nuclear Strategic Theory Says About Deterrence of Potentially Irrational Opponents
Increasingly isolated and desperate, Putin might try to suddenly escalate the Ukraine conflict rather than back down in the face of international opposition. The United States and its allies must account for the possibility that even in the face of credible deterrent threats Putin might double down and lash out.
Mar 8, 2022 The RAND Blog
Nuclear Strategists Know How Dangerous the Debt Fight Is
Nuclear-war strategists' work offers a warning for Congress: The more times a game is played, the more treacherous it becomes, because when both sides believe catastrophe will always be averted in the end, each behaves more rashly. In the debt-ceiling dispute, the United States could end up defaulting precisely because each side keeps waiting for the other to blink.
Nov 29, 2021 The Atlantic
The U.S. Doesn't Need More Nuclear Weapons to Counter China's New Missile Silos
There's little reason for the United States to worry much about whatever the Chinese military is building in hundreds of new missile silos in China. America and its allies have ways to counter any threats these silo fields pose.
Oct 18, 2021 The Washington Post
Defeat Is Possible
If the United States is to have a reasonable hope of winning a war, it needs to think about what it would be like to lose. An essential first step could be to start taking the prospect of protracted near-peer conflict seriously.
Jun 17, 2021 War on the Rocks
Military Deception: AI's Killer App?
Contrary to the promise that AI would deliver an omniscient view of everything happening in the battlespace—the goal of U.S. military planners for decades—it now appears that technologies of misdirection are winning. Military deception, in short, could prove to be AI’s killer app.
Oct 23, 2019 War on the Rocks
Will Artificial Intelligence Undermine Nuclear Stability?
In the coming years, AI-enabled progress in tracking and targeting adversaries' nuclear weapons could undermine the foundations of nuclear stability. Will AI someday be able to guide strategy decisions about escalation or even launching nuclear weapons?
May 1, 2018 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists