Analysis / CommentaryPitting Nuclear Modernization Against Powering AI: Trump’s Plans for the U.S. Plutonium StockpileByHeather WilliamsPublished Oct 14, 2025The Trump administration plans to redirect plutonium from the national stockpile to civilian nuclear energy projects, including to power AI data centers. How will this plan impact U.S. nuclear modernization plans and national security?
Analysis / CommentaryCould the Pakistani-Saudi Defense Pact Be the First Step Toward a NATO-Style Alliance?ByDoreen Horschig, Diya Ashtakala and Bailey SchiffPublished Oct 6, 2025The pact reshaped regional dynamics by deepening Pakistani-Saudi ties, straining India’s balancing act, and raising questions about Israel’s air access. Despite its NATO-style language, it lacks the nuclear and political basis for true collective defense.
Analysis Returning to an Era of Competition and Nuclear RiskByHeather Williams, Joseph Rodgers and Elizabeth KosPublished Sep 16, 2025The future of modern warfare will feature increased reliance on nuclear weapons by adversaries and allies. Modern war strategists must develop a nuanced approach to prevent miscalculation and maintain stability in an era of renewed competition and growing nuclear risks.
Analysis / CommentaryParading China’s Nuclear Arsenal Out of the ShadowsByHeather Williams and Joseph RodgersPublished Sep 8, 2025China’s Victory Day parade unveiled a full nuclear triad, challenging U.S. strategic superiority and signaling a new era of deterrence aimed at preventing intervention in a Taiwan conflict.
Analysis / MultimediaThe Negotiator Files: A Conversation with Chris Ford ByCSIS PONIPublished Aug 5, 2025This interview is a part of CSIS PONI’s Arms Control Knowledge Transfer Initiative (ACKTI), a program designed to preserve knowledge through senior expert interviews and primary source archival research, to educate the next generation of arms control experts on all aspects of arms control, including negotiation, implementation, inspection, and more. The full transcript and more information on the project can be found here: https://ackti-archive.csis.org/. Series The Negotiator Files
Analysis / CommentaryReviving Chemical Weapons Accountability in a Multipolar WorldByDoreen Horschig and Natasha HallPublished Nov 25, 2024Next week’s 29th Session of the Conference of States Parties of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is an opportunity to revitalize accountability and global cooperation in an age of impunity.
Analysis / Next Gen CommunityPart 2: Challenges and Solutions for Combating Nuclear Mis- and Disinformation ByBrian CookPublished Sep 6, 2024There is no catchall solution for completely stopping mis- and disinformation. It might be impossible to untangle the technology, psychology, and politics and social issues that all contribute to the spread and believability of false information. This is true for nuclear mis- and disinformation as well. But recognizing the challenges and thinking about possible solutions is an important start, especially for such an impactful and increasingly salient topic like nuclear weapons.
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityArms Control Cannot Be Dead: Why the US should actively plan for engaging with Russia and China in the Long TermByAlvina AhmedPublished May 22, 2024Presently, the future of arms control looks bleak. Following its illegal re-invasion (Russia invaded the region of Crimea in 2014) of Ukraine in 2022, Russia suspended its participation in the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), and froze the United States-Russia Strategic Stability dialogue. At the same time, the People’s Republic of China…
Analysis Part 1: Nuclear Mis- and Disinformation and Impacts to the American PublicByBrian CookPublished Apr 24, 2024Russia’s nuclear saber rattling throughout the war in Ukraine, reports of China’s increasing nuclear modernization, and the 2023 release of Oppenheimer has reignited in the public talk of nuclear weapons. With the increasing prevalence of conversation around nuclear weapons comes increasing opportunity for mis- or disinformation to spread about them and the nuclear enterprise (NE)….
Analysis Project Atom 2023ByHeather Williams, Kelsey Hartigan, Lachlan Mackenzie, Robert Soofer, Tom Karako, Oriana Skylar Mastro, Franklin Miller, Leonor Tomero and Jon WolfsthalPublished Nov 17, 2023A Competitive Strategies Approach for U.S. Nuclear Posture through 2035