Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityAUKUS’ Crumbling Public Perceptions ByJasmin AlsaiedPublished Aug 2, 2023There has been progress and criticism surrounding the Australia-United Kingdom-United States Partnership (AUKUS), which aims to provide Australia with nuclear-propelled submarines. Critics, including the nuclear nonproliferation community and China, fear that the deal could lead to nuclear material proliferation. However, proponents argue that AUKUS strengthens the global non-proliferation regime by clarifying the naval nuclear propulsion loophole and setting a precedent for responsible nuclear stewardship.
Analysis / CommentaryFuture Steps for U.S.-ROK Extended Deterrence ConsultationsByKelsey HartiganPublished Mar 8, 2023Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin travelled to South Korea last week to shore up U.S. extended deterrence commitments following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s comments about South Korea possibly developing its own nuclear weapons.
Analysis / ReportIntegrated Arms Control in an Era of Strategic CompetitionByRebecca Hersman, Suzanne Claeys and Heather WilliamsPublished Jan 25, 2022Can contemporary arms control keep pace with the rapid rate of change in both geopolitics and technology? This study examines the implication and prospects for the future of arms control in a highly competitive security environment in which challenges from advanced technologies and diminished state control over processes of verification become increasingly prominent features, even as the scope and modalities of arms control grow more complex and multifaceted.
Analysis / ReportInfluence and Escalation: Implications of Russian and Chinese Influence Operations for Crisis ManagementByRebecca Hersman, Eric Brewer, Maxwell Simon and Lindsey SheppardPublished Nov 17, 2021As influence operations increasingly engage strategic-level interests, capabilities, and risks—U.S. infrastructure, institutions, elites, or those of our close allies—existing assumptions about their escalatory potential may not prove sound.
Analysis / CommentaryReading the Nuclear Tea Leaves: Policy and Posture in the Biden AdministrationByRebecca Hersman and Joseph RodgersPublished Jun 14, 2021The nuclear policy community is once again in the grips of pervasive anxiety that U.S. nuclear policy—encompassing force modernization decisions, declaratory policy, and perceptions of adversary nuclear threat and risk—is either about to dramatically change or fail to change as dramatically as it should. In a polarized community characterized by mistrust and a highly politicized…
Analysis / Commentary2020 Consensus Statement: European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear DialoguesByRebecca HersmanPublished Jan 22, 2021In 2020, the European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues convened senior nuclear policy experts from the United Kingdom, France, and the United States to discuss nuclear deterrence, arms control, and nonproliferation issues and identify areas of consensus among the P3.
Analysis / CommentaryToward a More Proliferated World? The Geopolitical Forces that Will Shape the Spread of Nuclear WeaponsByEric BrewerPublished Sep 2, 2020This joint CNAS-CSIS report identifies seven trends that are eroding the barriers to nuclear proliferation.
Analysis / ReportOn the Horizon Volume 2: A Collection of Papers from the Next GenerationBySimone Williams and Rebecca HersmanPublished Apr 14, 2020The papers included in this volume comprise research from participants in the 2019 Nuclear Scholars Initiative and the PONI Conference Series. Series On The Horizon
Analysis / CommentaryCSIS European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues, 2019 Consensus StatementByRebecca HersmanPublished Mar 13, 2020The European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues have convened senior nuclear policy experts from the United Kingdom, France, and the United States (P3) for the past eleven years to discuss nuclear deterrence, arms control, and nonproliferation policy issues and identify areas of consensus among the three countries.
Analysis / CommentaryThe Deterrence and Assurance ConversationByRebecca HersmanPublished Jul 22, 2019As we survey the world today, we find the nuclear landscape to be more uncertain and precarious than it has been at any time since the end of the Cold War.