RAND >

Nuclear Weapons and Warfare

commentary
Bringing Back Sanctions Will Hurt U.S. Allies and Iran, but Will It Help the U.S.?
Dalia Dassa Kaye @dassakaye
Aug 7, 2018
The Hill
What happens if leaving the Iran nuclear deal and applying “maximum pressure” doesn't lead Iran to change its behavior or the regime to collapse? The Trump administration may find that it's much easier to break a deal than to replace it with something better.
Read More »

commentary
Is the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism Distracting Attention from More Realistic Threats?
Antonia Ward @antoniahward
Jul 27, 2018
Georgetown Security Studies Review
A nuclear terrorist attack is currently not a realistic threat. It would require an unprecedented level of sophistication from terrorists. The majority of terrorist attacks are conducted with conventional explosives.
Read More »
commentary
Attempts to Order Geopolitics Have a Sobering History
Ali Wyne @Ali_Wyne
Jul 25, 2018
The WorldPost (Washington Post)
Past efforts to introduce world order have resulted less from foresighted statecraft than from cataclysmic upheavals such as World War II. If the current international system erodes, what might have to happen for a new one to emerge?
Read More »
International Diplomacy
commentary
Six Lessons for Today from Past Summits
William Courtney @courtneywmh, Michael Haltzel
Jun 5, 2018
Fox News Channel
To prepare for possible meetings with his North Korean and Russian counterparts, President Trump can learn lessons from decades of high-profile summits between U.S. presidents and Kremlin leaders.
Read More »
International Diplomacy
commentary
North Korea Is Not Like Libya
Karl P. Mueller
Jun 1, 2018
Reuters
The prospect of a U.S.-North Korea summit has led to analogies between the present case and that of Libya, which abandoned its longstanding quest to develop nuclear weapons in 2003. But a better precedent would be the 2015 deal that froze Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Read More »
commentary
Canceled Summit Doesn't Spell End to U.S.-North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
May 25, 2018
The Hill
President Trump canceled his June 12 meeting with Kim Jong-un but left the door open for a future one. Successful diplomacy will require tending and fostering U.S. relations with China, Japan, and South Korea while forging an entirely new relationship with North Korea.
Read More »
Security Cooperation
commentary
The U.S. Is Out of the Iran Deal. What Now?
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
May 9, 2018
Reuters
Abandoning the nuclear agreement with Iran isolates the United States, reneges on an American commitment, adds to the risk of a trade war with U.S. allies and a hot war with Iran, and diminishes the prospects of an agreement to eliminate the North Korean threat.
Read More »
Artificial Intelligence
commentary
Will Artificial Intelligence Undermine Nuclear Stability?
Andrew J. Lohn @andrewjlohn, Edward Geist
May 1, 2018
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
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?
Read More »
Artificial Intelligence
article
How Artificial Intelligence Could Increase the Risk of Nuclear War
Apr 24, 2018
Advances in artificial intelligence have provoked a new kind of arms race among nuclear powers. AI could challenge the basic rules of nuclear deterrence and lead to catastrophic miscalculations.
Read More »
North Korea
blog
Preparing for U.S.-North Korea Talks: Insights from Researcher Bruce Bennett
Apr 5, 2018
What are the chances that a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Trump will lead to meaningful progress? And what should U.S. leaders be thinking about as they prepare? RAND's Bruce Bennett discusses.
Read More »
Arms Proliferation and Control
commentary
Iran: The Nuclear Agreement Will Survive, at Least for Now
Richard C. Baffa @R_Baffa
Apr 4, 2018
The Hill
A U.S. unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal does not necessarily mean the deal will collapse. But a broader collapse of the agreement along with the imposition of harsh sanctions in the coming months could sharply escalate tensions with Iran.
Read More »
Nuclear Deterrence
commentary
What Does Japan Think of the Iran Nuclear Deal?
Scott W. Harold @ScottWHarold
Mar 26, 2018
The Diplomat
What is Tokyo's view of the Iran nuclear deal and how has Tokyo responded to the U.S. threat to withdraw from it? What role is Japan, the world's third-largest economy, a major U.S. ally, and the only country ever to be attacked with nuclear weapons, likely to play in attempting to preserve, improve, or scrap the deal?
Read More »
Nuclear Deterrence
commentary
Red Glare: The Origin and Implications of Russia's 'New' Nuclear Weapons
Austin Long
Mar 26, 2018
War on the Rocks
Why would Russia, which has over 1,500 deployed strategic nuclear warheads that can be delivered from existing ballistic and cruise missiles, invest in new, exotic systems? The answer is deeply rooted in modern Russian and Soviet history.
Read More »
Submarines
commentary
Location, Location, Location: Evaluating Risks to Submarines from Low-Yield Warhead and Submarine Missile Launch Detection
Austin Long
Mar 12, 2018
Lawfare
Experts can argue that a low-yield SLBM might not be worth deploying as it would put U.S. submarines at unacceptable risk. But the costs to adversaries to develop the capability to target U.S. submarines with nuclear weapons are substantial. In contrast, the costs to the United States are low, requiring only modification to an existing warhead.
Read More »
Nuclear Disarmament
commentary
Could Putin's Speech Signal the Erosion of Nuclear Nonproliferation?
Daniel M. Gerstein @Daniel_Gerstein
Mar 7, 2018
The Hill
Russian President Vladimir Putin has linked the development of new nuclear weapons capabilities to the United States' refusal to collaborate on arms control. Perhaps before Russia goes down this path, another attempt at dialogue would be beneficial as both nations have expressed a shared interest in limiting nuclear proliferation.
Read More »
North Korea
commentary
Joint Military Exercise Can Be a Bargaining Chip with North Korea
James Dobbins @Jim_Dobbins
Feb 23, 2018
The Hill
Since 1976, the United States and South Korea have scheduled large-scale joint military exercises each year. Postponing the exercises this year has led to some signs that North Korea might be open to diplomacy. Delaying the exercises further could lead to direct talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
Read More »

Page 1 of 13

…

Nuclear Weapons and Warfare

Bringing Back Sanctions Will Hurt U.S. Allies and Iran, but Will It Help the U.S.?

Is the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism Distracting Attention from More Realistic Threats?

Attempts to Order Geopolitics Have a Sobering History

Six Lessons for Today from Past Summits

North Korea Is Not Like Libya

Canceled Summit Doesn't Spell End to U.S.-North Korea Nuclear Diplomacy

The U.S. Is Out of the Iran Deal. What Now?

Will Artificial Intelligence Undermine Nuclear Stability?

How Artificial Intelligence Could Increase the Risk of Nuclear War

Preparing for U.S.-North Korea Talks: Insights from Researcher Bruce Bennett

Iran: The Nuclear Agreement Will Survive, at Least for Now

What Does Japan Think of the Iran Nuclear Deal?

Red Glare: The Origin and Implications of Russia's 'New' Nuclear Weapons

Location, Location, Location: Evaluating Risks to Submarines from Low-Yield Warhead and Submarine Missile Launch Detection

Could Putin's Speech Signal the Erosion of Nuclear Nonproliferation?

Joint Military Exercise Can Be a Bargaining Chip with North Korea

Contact Us

Follow