Ideas

China’s ‘Particle Beam Cannon’ Is a Nuclear-Power Breakthrough

It promises to recycle spent nuclear fuel, making it cheaper and less dangerous—and moving Beijing toward energy independence.

Threats

Missile Defense Agency Eyes Command Center for Guam

Integrating current and future sensor data is key to protecting Guam from future missile threats.

Ideas

Guam Needs Better Missile Defenses—Urgently

Here's a two-stage plan to harden this crucial island base against China's burgeoning missile arsenal.

Ideas

How to Gauge the Risk of a Nuclear Escalation with Russia

Escalation theories can help NATO policymakers avoid nuclear war—but it is ultimately up to Putin.

Ideas

NATO Should Start Preparing Troops For a Nuclear Battlefield

Our own history can help prepare for the physical and psychological effects should Russia use tactical nukes in the next conflict.

Science & Tech

Defense Department Sets Out to Build Miniature Nuclear Reactor, Again

Changing politics and military goals suggest that this time, mobile nuclear power could go mainstream.

Policy

Biden’s Nuke Review Omits ‘No First Use’, Kills Naval Cruise Missile

The president, who pledged during the campaign to use nuclear weapons only in response to a similar attack, declined to set that as U.S. policy.

Ideas

Let’s Correct a Misperception About Nuclear Modernization

An article left the impression that a new fuze would vastly increase the capability of our nuclear arsenal. It’s simply not the case.

Policy

More Nuclear, Less Ground Attack in Biden’s Air Force Budget Request

The 2023 spending proposal calls for retiring 150 planes, shifting funds, and reconfiguring for possible war with China or Russia.

Ideas

What We Learned from Russia’s Assaults on Nuclear Plants

Governments, international organizations, and nuclear plant operators have a lot of work to do.

Business

Biden's Nuclear Spending Plans Just Got More Complicated

How much will Russia’s war on Ukraine change America's aging nuclear arsenal?

Policy

Why New Technology Is Making Nuclear Arms Control Harder

The US, China, and Russia are locked in a high-tech race to perfect new nuclear capabilities, rendering some Cold War safeguards obsolete.

Policy

Can Russia’s War Revive the Anti-Nuke Movement?

Amid aging leaders and new politics, arms-control advocates are using Putin’s invasion to renew attention to nuclear weapons.

Threats

Concern Rising That Putin Could Use Nuclear Weapons

Russian “escalate to de-escalate” doctrine suggests Putin is thinking the unthinkable.

Ideas

Will Russia Go Nuclear?

Probably not, but that ultimately depends on factors out of our control, including Putin himself.

Threats

What Just Happened With Putin’s Nuclear Forces? Here’s What Experts Say

Whatever it is, U.S. officials are calling it escalatory–but not “high alert.”