Analysis / ReportWhat Allies Want: European Priorities in a Contested Security EnvironmentByNicholas AdamopoulosPublished May 13, 2025While the United States remains committed to NATO, it its placing growing pressure on its allies to shoulder more of the burden for European defense. As allies shoulder a growing conventional burden, they want to ensure US extended deterrence commitments remain.
Analysis / Next Gen CommunityAmerica First, Allies, and Adversaries: Balancing Arms Control and Nonproliferation ByLachlan Mackenzie and Catherine MurphyPublished May 1, 2025President Trump appears willing to make significant concessions on regional security issues—potentially including support for key partners—to bring adversaries to the negotiating table. Three areas of U.S. policy will influence whether this approach raises the risks of allied proliferation: the administration’s approach to nuclear modernization, extended deterrence, and security concessions.
Analysis / CommentaryCSIS European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear DialoguesByHeather WilliamsPublished Apr 9, 2025Political shifts and a rapidly changing security environment continue to reinforce the importance of close collaboration and unity between the United States, the United Kingdom, and France as responsible nuclear weapons states and NATO alliance members.
Analysis / CommentaryCan France and the United Kingdom Replace the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella?ByDoreen Horschig and Astrid ChevreuilPublished Mar 13, 2025As doubts grow over U.S. nuclear commitments, Germany’s new chancellor has sparked debate on whether France and the United Kingdom could provide a European nuclear umbrella. But with strategic and doctrinal hurdles ahead, is Europe ready to reshape its nuclear deterrence?
Analysis / Next Gen CommunityOn the Horizon Vol. 7ByDoreen HorschigPublished Jan 3, 2025The Nuclear Scholars Initiative is a signature program run by the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) to engage emerging nuclear experts in thoughtful and informed debate over how to best address the nuclear community’s most pressing problems. The papers included in this volume comprise research from participants in the 2024 Nuclear Scholars Initiative. These papers explore a range of crucial debates across deterrence, arms control, and non-proliferation communities. Series On The Horizon
Analysis / CommentaryWhy Did China and Russia Stage a Joint Bomber Exercise near Alaska?ByHeather Williams, Kari A. Bingen and Lachlan MackenziePublished Jul 31, 2024On July 24, the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted two Chinese and two Russian bombers flying near Alaska. This incident was the first of its kind and could signal a growing willingness on the part of Beijing and Moscow to test American resolve.
Analysis / ReportHouse of Cards? Nuclear Norms in an Era of Strategic CompetitionByHeather Williams and Doreen HorschigPublished Jul 31, 2024While the norms against nuclear proliferation, use, and testing are widely supported and critical for stability, they are increasingly contested. The fragile interconnectedness of the norms urges global action to reinforce these pillars and prevent a destabilizing cascade.
Analysis / CommentaryAnticipating a Change in Public SentimentsByDoreen HorschigPublished Jul 31, 2024In the future, NATO should engage in a more structured public education campaign to counter Russian disinformation campaigns and maintain public support for its defense policies, strategy toward Ukraine, and nuclear mission.
Analysis / CommentaryEurope Needs More Conventional Forces, Not Its Own NukesByDoreen Horschig and Sean MonaghanPublished Jul 31, 2024The U.S. election has renewed debate about an independent European nuclear force. Yet this distracts from the real European defense issue: a lack of conventional combat power. Europe’s main task remains the same as during the Cold War: strengthen conventional deterrence.
Analysis / Next Gen CommunityExploring Tactical Nuclear Possibilities in JapanByIku TsujihiroPublished May 15, 2024Japanese Doubts Over the Credibility of the Current Extended Deterrence Select Japanese politicians have discussed the need for NATO-style nuclear sharing in Japan as early as 2016. This became a more well-known conversation when ex-Prime Minister Abe publicly reintroduced the topic after Russia invaded Ukraine. PM Abe commented “Japan is a signatory to the Nuclear…