Author Archive

Joe Cirincione

Joe Cirincione
Joe Cirincione is a national security analyst. He is author of "Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons" and other works. He formerly served as president of Ploughshares Fund, vice-president for national security at the Center for American Progress, director for non-proliferation at the Carnegie Endowment and as a senior fellow at the Stimson Center. He served for nine years on the professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee and the Government Operations Committee. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Can Donald Trump really build an Iron Dome over America?

In a word, no. The president-turned-candidate is still selling the same old missile-defense snake oil.

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In Ukraine, A New Chance to Judge the Patriot Missile

The much-lauded air-defense system has a decidedly mixed record. The Pentagon should watch its performance carefully.

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How Biden Can Leverage Missile Defense in His Summit with Putin

Putting it on the table would put the United States in the driver’s seat in strategic stability talks.

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Why Donald Trump’s Debt is a National Security Risk

If you owe someone a lot of money, they have leverage over you. To whom, exactly, does the U.S. president owe this money?

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Democrats, Be Bold on National Security

Even before the pandemic, it was clear that more money didn’t mean more real security.

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Progress, Peril, Hope: The Nuclear Decade in Review

U.S. policies that restrained and shrank atomic arsenals have been abandoned. Yet there are hopeful trends as well.

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Happy Birthday, Nuclear Arms Race

If we remember how we could have stopped it, we may yet find a way to do so.

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The Trump-Kim Summit Is Diplomacy. Democrats Should Support It.

Trump has wisely shifted tactics. Democrats should not let politics undermine reasonable diplomacy.

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Bolton’s Big Iran Con

There’s no evidence behind the national security adviser’s dire warnings about Tehran’s nuclear intentions.

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A Serial Killing Spree That Threatens Us All

Can John Bolton be stopped before he further undermines U.S. national security?

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John McCain, Nuclear Disarmament, and What Might Have Been

If McCain had become president in 2008, the world might have had far fewer nuclear weapons today.

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A No-Cost, No-Brainer of a Nuclear Deal

Extending New START would be an easy win out of the Trump-Putin summit.

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Happy 50th Birthday to the NPT Nuclear Treaty

There’s good reason to celebrate the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968. We’re all still here, aren’t we? But the NPT regime's protections are being tested more profoundly than ever.

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Pompeo’s Secret Korea Trip May Not Save His Nomination, But It Could Save Trump’s Summit

The president needs a "win" somewhere so badly that at the summit he may accept a nuclear freeze and a determined process as a major victory. That is a good thing.

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Putin Just Gave Trump the Arms Race He Sought

'Let it be an arms race,' Trump said, two years ago. Now we have one. It doesn't have to be this way.

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Nuclear Nuts: Trump's New Policy Hypes The Threat and Brings Us Closer to War

The Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review only bends reality to fit Trump’s warped views.

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Hawaii's Nuclear Wakeup Call (and Why We Should Take MLK's Advice)

The Cold War brought plenty of false alarms — but nothing like the situation we face today.

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Last Year’s Top 5 Worst Nuclear Nightmares (That Aren't Going Away)

Each of these threats has only gotten worse. Take one guess what (or who) I think remains the top nuclear threat to us...