Why, exactly, does Iran’s abandoned nuclear weapons program still matter for U.S. policy? Three primary reasons stand out.
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Analysis
Read PONI-community research from emerging scholars and expert authors.
123 entries | Page 1 of 13
analysis
ICYMI: 2020 U.S. Strategic Command Deterrence Symposium
View the PONI panel and poster presentation from the 2020 STRATCOM Deterrence Symposium.
analysis
Left of Launch: Artificial Intelligence at the Nuclear Nexus
The areas of AI application into the nuclear enterprise are far left of an operational decision or decision to launch and include four priority sectors: (1) security and defense; (2) intelligence activities and indications and warning; (3) modeling and simulation, optimization, and data analytics; and (4) logistics and maintenance.
analysis
Deep Dive Debrief: U.S. Nuclear Warhead Modernization and “New” Nuclear Weapons
The brief examines the debate surrounding the development of U.S. nuclear warheads and whether the United States is creating “new” nuclear weapons.
analysis
Nuclear Command and Civilian Control: Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Nuclear Weapons
In the nuclear realm, the challenge of civilian control is solved with presidential authority. Understanding and addressing the concessions that presidents might make to military expertise surfaces the precarious nature of civilian nuclear command and control.
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Modernizing the Nuclear Enterprise in the Era of Rapid Prototyping
The U.S. nuclear enterprise is going through a cycle of modernization that touches practically every system in the arsenal. This modernization push requires the nuclear enterprise to engage deeply with the defense acquisition system in a way it has not since its last major modernization cycle in the 1980s.
analysisNext Gen Perspectives
Nuclear South Asia at 22
It has been 22 years since India and Pakistan conducted their first nuclear weapons tests, igniting one of the worlds’ most dynamic nuclear deterrence relationships.[1] The series of tests that were conducted at the turn of the century marked the beginning of an unconventional security competition between India and Pakistan which continues till today. Over Read More
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Adapting to the Hypersonic Era
Conventional hypersonic strike weapons may undermine deterrence by complicating early-warning and increasing the vulnerability of forward-based forces to surprise attack below the nuclear threshold. Nevertheless, history shows that adaptation to strategically disruptive technologies is possible.
analysis
A Balance of Instability: Effects of a Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Weapons Ban on Nuclear Stability
How would new norms for testing space weapons affect nuclear stability and traditional deterrence? Would a direct-ascent ASAT limit or ban create stability or further destabilize the space and nuclear domains?
analysis
Cross-domain Competition: How Organizational Stovepipes Create Risks for Shared Missions
Today, traditional nuclear missions increasingly intersect with emerging technical domains such as space and cyber. How can policymakers mitigate the risks that bureaucratic competition can pose to the shared mission of defending the nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) system?