President Trump’s impulsive decision recently to remove 12,000 American troops from Germany — without a serious interagency review or consultation with close allies — is just the latest example of how undisciplined and ill-advised his actions toward NATO and Europe have become in the past 3 1/2 years.
Where is nuclear arms control—negotiated restraints on the deadliest weapons of mass destruction—headed? This 50-year tool of US national security policy is currently under attack.
The “sole purpose” of U.S. nuclear weapons should be to deter and—if necessary, retaliate against—a nuclear attack. This would mark a significant change in U.S. nuclear policy, eliminating ambiguity that preserves the option to use nuclear weapons first in response to a conventional attack.
For months, President Trump has put the brightest possible spin on COVID-19. He insists the virus is under control. He praises his administration’s “incredible” job. He suggests a vaccine will be available by November. Unfortunately, the real world looks very different.
On the World Class Podcast, nuclear security expert Rose Gottemoeller describes what it’s like to negotiate with the Russians and the path ahead for extending the New START Treaty.
Nineteen years after 9/11, al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has yet to achieve the household notoriety evoked by that of his immediate predecessor, Osama bin Laden.
Almost since its first emergence, the spreading SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has also been accompanied by a widespread proliferation of misinformation and disinformation, what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as “a massive ‘infodemic’… that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it.”
As protests continue in Belarus over the disputed re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, Steve Pifer explains how the government’s response to COVID-19 and a blatantly stolen election prompted the wide-spread demonstrations.
Since regaining its independence in the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse nearly 30 years ago, Ukraine has sought to build links with the West. This includes ties with institutions such as NATO, with which Ukraine has established a distinctive partnership.
Steven Pifer, William J. Perry fellow at CISAC, former Foreign Service officer and Ukraine's Ambassador from 1998 to 2000, talks to Fordham's "Vital Interests" about Ukraine.
John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, announced that the intelligence community would cut back on its briefings to Congress on electoral security. Amy B. Zegart explains what the decision meant.
Young American and Russian professionals examined three major nuclear accidents to assess the causes, responses and consequences. They worked across cultural and disciplinary divides and arrived at a common assessment: international cooperation is essential to ensure nuclear safety because one country’s nuclear accident is everyone’s.
From 2001 to 2004, I was the senior American official to visit Belarus. The United States and European Union were thoroughly dissatisfied with President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s authoritarianism, and US policy mandated that no official higher than a deputy assistant secretary travel to Minsk. EU officials and EU member states observed comparable restrictions.
Both have announced their opposition to building an underground repository to permanently store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now it's time for everyone else to accept that Yucca Mountain is off the table and for the United States to begin to consider realistic alternatives for safely managing spent fuel.
The Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) is pleased to welcome the fellows and researchers who will be joining us for the 2020-21 academic year. These scholars will spend the academic year generating new knowledge across a range of topics that can help all of us build a safer world.
As part of the ensuing national racial reckoning, institutions within the US nuclear community have issued statements condemning systemic racism. The nuclear community must go beyond acknowledgement alone if it genuinely aims to dismantle long-standing structural inequalities.
