Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. How serious are those threats? Is the United States prepared to respond in the face of a nuclear attack? And what role do China and North Korea play in the discussion of nuclear war? “We’ve been hearing threat after threat, nuclear threat after nuclear threat against…
Under the theory of nuclear deterrence, military strategists’ goal is to make use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield untenable by either side and to avoid escalation to full-scale nuclear war. Considering this goal is particularly timely and poignant as Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to rage after six months, China stokes tensions with Taiwan,…
After launching an invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin sparked even more global concerns by putting his nuclear forces on high alert. The Daily Signal asked Patty-Jane Geller, policy analyst for nuclear deterrence and missile defense in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, what to make of Putin’s provocative rhetoric. Geller, who has…
Today, the Trump administration’s released its long-awaited Nuclear Posture Review. Already, myths of a nuclear Armageddon have monopolized the media space. In reality, the review is a balanced document carefully weighing the impact of dangerous international trends like a resurgent Russia and an aggressive China on U.S. nuclear posture. The recommendations in the review, if implemented, will…
Moscow announced Friday it would begin massive nuclear drills over the weekend that will entail practice launches of its intercontinental ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. While it’s not out of the ordinary for a nuclear power to rehearse its nuclear forces, this is no ordinary exercise. It comes at a time when Russia has more…
When it comes to the Iran deal, the devil is in details, particularly when it comes to verification and arms control. In the latest spin on the Iran deal’s flawed verification provisions, proponents of the deal are twisting words like pretzels to convince the American public that a nuclear program cannot be hidden in 24…
Other crises may dominate the headlines. But none of them—not our crushing national debt, cyberwar, Russian aggression, Chinese belligerence or even the chaos in the Middle East—pose the threat of global nuclear proliferation. Nuclear weapons are a threat like no other. I managed four underground nuclear tests, and I have witnessed the nearly unimaginable destructive power…
Leave it to The New York Times to misrepresent U.S. nuclear weapons strategy. In its Oct. 26 editorial, the Times completely misses the point of possessing nuclear weapons: to deter large-scale attacks against the United States, assure our allies so that they won’t develop their own nuclear capabilities, and win a nuclear war should the extreme…
One year after the negotiation of the nuclear agreement, Iran continues to pursue the hostile policies that make it dangerous to the United States and its allies. Iran persists in its attempts to: cheat on its nuclear nonproliferation obligations, export terrorism, threaten U.S. allies, provoke confrontations with U.S. naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, flout…
China has reportedly tested a new strategic weapon: a fractional orbital bombardment system armed with a hypersonic glide vehicle. What exactly does this weapon do and what is the threat to the United States? Peter Brookes, a senior research fellow focusing on weapons of mass destruction and counterproliferation at The Heritage Foundation, joins “The Daily…
The White House has declared that it may be revising United States nuclear policy during President Barack Obama’s final months in office. A “no first use” policy would be a disaster for the U.S. and its allies. The Obama administration’s consideration of the no first use policy is based on a lack of humility before…
The Pentagon has finally kicked off its Nuclear Posture Review, a comprehensive assessment of U.S. nuclear capabilities and strategy, which will be conducted over several months. But already, President Joe Biden faces pressure—both from within the administration and from some in Congress—to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy. Just last…
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday morning ordered his military leaders to place nuclear forces on high-alert status during his war on Ukraine. We don’t know the details of what Putin’s order entails. Many of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces that can reach the U.S. already are kept on a high level of alert. This new…
The United Nations Security Council soon will be plunged into a momentous debate as the Trump administration seeks to kill the 2015 Iran nuclear deal once and for all by invoking “snapback” sanctions. Despite the U.S. withdrawal in 2018 from the the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and…
Although last month the Obama administration led a misguided effort in the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution on nuclear weapons testing, it apparently understands the downside of supporting a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. In an Oct. 14 statement, the Obama administration rejected a U.N. effort to “declare a ban on nuclear…
Policymakers are increasingly concerned about evidence of increasing cooperation between the United States’ two greatest adversaries, Russia and China. While recent discussion has focused on China providing Russia with lethal aid to support its aggression in Ukraine, a potentially more dangerous element to this budding relationship has just come into public view: Russian support for China’s…
The head of the U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard, recently alerted the world that when it comes to deterrence against China, “the ship is slowly sinking.” That warning came on the heels of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for “a strong system of strategic deterrence,” a likely reference to Beijing’s nuclear arsenal, at the…
The Biden-Harris administration announced early this year that Sneha Nair would become a special assistant in the Energy Department’s National Nuclear Security Administration, which is the government agency charged with building the nation’s nuclear warheads and maintaining its nuclear stockpile. What the National Nuclear Security Administration does is one of the most critical elements—and technically…
Not long ago, the United States was an uncontested superpower. Nor was it that long ago that the United States fielded a military that was qualitatively unrivaled, and perhaps the most powerful and most advanced military in history. But that supremacy may be in danger unless the U.S. initiates drastic reforms. To spread awareness of…
Alongside so many other threats to U.S. interests, weapons of mass destruction is another area that will be of deep concern this year. Indeed, there are good reasons to be nervous about threats from weapons of mass destruction arising not only from rogue states such as Iran, North Korea, and Syria—but also from great powers…