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Missile Mission Malaise
  On the radar: Missiles lacking plausible mission; $10 billion nuclear budget buster; “Iran After the Bomb”; Sub pounding budgets; Debating Navy’s requirement; Nawaz Sharif’s pivot; and When military exercises stop being polite and start getting real.   Read more »
EARLY WARNING for May 17, 2013
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Sid Drell on the Logic of Nuclear Zero
Is it illogical to think of a world without nuclear weapons?  Must we accept the world as it is, with nuclear weapons, as many in the high priesthood of strategic policy insist?  That was a broad reaction to the effort to get rid of them that Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev made at the Reykjavik Summit 26 years ago in what George Shultz has called “the highest stakes poker game ever played.”  And I still hear it frequently today. Read more »
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Posted by admin on November 16, 2012
Federation of American Scientists, Four Horsemen, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Zero, Sidney Drell
The $640 Billion Question
Whether or not the nation zooms over the fiscal cliff, the Pentagon’s budget is going to get tighter. This may be a challenge for some. But it’s also an opportunity for the Pentagon to shift away from Cold War weapons and reshape the U.S. military to deal with 21st century realities. It comes down to a simple question: Should the U.S. put its money toward a Cold War nuclear strategy? Or should those funds be spent to equip the military to address 21st century realities? Read more »
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Posted by Ben Loehrke on November 14, 2012
$640 Billion, Cold War, Fiscal Cliff, Gen. James Cartwright, Global Zero, Military, Nuclear Budget, Pentagon Budget, Politico, Sec. Colin Powell, Walter Pincus
Seeing Eye to Eye with China
I just returned from a week in Beijing. What a change. Scores of modern skyscrapers with international brand names and products emblazoned atop have sprung up where none existed as little as five years ago. Shining shopping malls are filled with the latest fashions and products.  Streets are choked with thousands of cars and buses where packs of bicycles and motorcycles once ruled. Read more »
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Posted by Philip Yun on November 14, 2012
China, North Korea, Asia, Beijing, Foreign Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Philip Yun, Sino-American relations, Ploughshares Fund
Carrying on a Family Tradition
Lisa Esherick is a painter, teacher, gardener and a person committed to a world where “everyone and everything thrives.” A resident of Berkeley, CA, Lisa is involved with many organizations, both local and international, that support the arts, education, health, food and housing, the environment and social justice. Ploughshares Fund is a special favorite. Read more »
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Posted by admin on November 13, 2012
lisa esherick, Nuclear-Free Legacy Society, Partners, Philanthropy, Ploughshares Fund
Nuclear Policy Among Top Foreign Policy Challenges for 2nd Obama Term
In the wake of last week's election, pundits and politicians alike are starting to think about what the next four years may hold. While not heavily discussed during the campaign, it seems that nuclear policy is coming up high on many people's lists of issues that are likely to receive major presidential attention in the next term. Read more »
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Posted by admin on November 12, 2012
David Ignatius, Joe Cirincione, Nuclear Weapons, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Video, Ploughshares Fund
A Tale of Two Mitts
For a sense of what's at stake for nuclear policy in this year's election, consider this: The U.S. government is on track to spend $640 billion over the next 10 years on nuclear weapons and related programs -- more than the military's budget for an entire year. The next president will make key policy decisions early in his term that will have an impact on these budgets and global security more broadly. Read more »
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Posted by Joe Cirincione on November 6, 2012
Barack Obama, Election, Foreign Policy, Joe Cirincione, Mitt Romney, Nuclear Weapons
What's more expensive than a hurricane? Nuclear weapons.
There's no doubt: Hurricane Sandy has left her mark. The damage the storm left to basic infrastructure on the East Coast will take billions of dollars and months (if not years) to repair. But, hurricane damage costs pale in comparison to the spending our country is already planning to dole out to America's nuclear weapons and related programs.  Read more »
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Posted by admin on November 2, 2012
hurricane sandy, infographic, Nuclear Budget, Nuclear Weapons
Too Big to Succeed? Huge Laser for Weapons Tests Fails to Perform
Although the United States has not tested a nuclear weapon for twenty years, we still spend billions each year on an array of machines that conduct all kinds of diagnostic experiments to mimic nuclear explosions. One of the most expensive is called the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Read more »
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Posted by Paul Carroll on October 31, 2012
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Ignition Facility, Nuclear Budget, Nuclear Weapons, Stockpile stewardship
U.S. and Russia Nuclear Security Headed Toward Uncertain Future
On October 17, Russia successfully launched a newly designed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with President Putin on hand to personally oversee the event. Read more »
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Posted by Jeffrey Zhu on October 29, 2012
Nunn-Lugar, Putin, Russia
Cuban Missile Crisis: Where Could It Happen Today?
Things have changed since 1962. Hippies have given way to hipsters, cellphones give you the news faster than the local news team can, only two Beatles are left, and the Soviet Union doesn’t even exist anymore. The Cold War atmosphere has evaporated and the risk of all-out nuclear war has dramatically decreased. However, a similar type of nuclear crisis that happened in Cuba in 1962 unfortunately could still happen today. Read more »
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Posted by Jessica Sleight on October 25, 2012
Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis, India, Nuclear Zero, Russia, Pakistan