Analysis / CommentarySurveillance, Situational Awareness, and Warning at the Conventional-Strategic InterfaceByRebecca Hersman and Reja YounisPublished Jan 15, 2021The expansion of dual-capable delivery systems and the diversification of strategic forms of warfare to include cyber, space, and advanced high precision conventional strike capabilities have sharply eroded structural conventional-nuclear firebreaks firebreaks. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityLeft of Launch: Artificial Intelligence at the Nuclear NexusByLindsey SheppardPublished Dec 17, 2020The 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. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityNuclear Command and Civilian Control: Civil-Military Relations and the Use of Nuclear WeaponsByAlice Hunt Friend and Reja YounisPublished Nov 20, 2020In 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. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityModernizing the Nuclear Enterprise in the Era of Rapid PrototypingByAndrew HunterPublished Nov 11, 2020The 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. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityAdapting to the Hypersonic EraByIan WilliamsPublished Nov 2, 2020Conventional 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. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityA Balance of Instability: Effects of a Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Weapons Ban on Nuclear StabilityByKaitlyn JohnsonPublished Oct 21, 2020How 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? Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityCross-domain Competition: How Organizational Stovepipes Create Risks for Shared MissionsByMorgan DwyerPublished Oct 15, 2020Today, 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? Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / Commentary, Next Gen CommunityThe Conventional Force Perspective: Nuclear Integration in Doctrine, Concepts, and ExercisesByAdam Saxton and Mark CancianPublished Oct 8, 2020What would detailed conventional nuclear integration in doctrine, concepts, and large-scale exercises look like? Joint concepts inform high-level military doctrine, which in turn provides guidance on what the military should aim to achieve through planning and training in large-scale exercises. Series Nuclear Nexus
Analysis / CommentaryBreaking the Silo: Examining International Security at the Nuclear NexusByRebecca Hersman, Reja Younis and Maxwell SimonPublished Oct 8, 2020Understanding international security issues at the “nuclear nexus” is critical for managing a contemporary security environment characterized by rapid technological innovation, increased strategic competition, and a looming nuclear shadow. Series Nuclear Nexus