Author Archive

Tom Z. Collina

Tom Z. Collina
Tom Z. Collina is an expert on nuclear weapons, missile defense, and nonproliferation. He was until recently Director of Policy at Ploughshares Fund. He is an author, with former Defense Secretary William Perry, of “The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump.”
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From Balloons to Nukes, We Must Stop Inflating the China Threat

We are better off talking to Beijing than getting tangled up in a new arms race.

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Biden’s Nuclear Policy Fails the Ukraine Test

His administration’s Cold War-style thinking is missing a golden opportunity.

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War Is No Reason to Put Arms-Control Negotiations on Hold

The possibility that Russia might use nuclear weapons in Ukraine is just one of the nuclear dangers we must address.

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Drifting Toward Disaster As Iran Nuke Talks Stall

Biden seems to think he needn’t cut a new deal until after the elections. That would be a mistake.

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Will Russia Go Nuclear?

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

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Unless Biden Acts Now, His Nuclear Policy Will Look a Lot Like Trump’s

The smart move is to declare a "sole purpose" policy and reverse the dangerous expansion of nuclear missions.

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Generals Should Not Have to Break the Rules to Prevent Nuclear War

Rather than criticizing Milley, we need to change the policy that put him in an impossible spot.

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$264B for ICBMs That Would Be Destroyed in the Ground? No, Thanks

Creating a spiffy new “nuclear sponge” makes neither fiscal nor strategic sense.

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Happy Birthday to the Bomb

If we want to avoid nuclear destruction for the next 75 years, we must take the president’s finger off the button.

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The Coronavirus Teaches Us Not to Let Trump Press the Nuclear Button

Some of the president’s poor decisions on COVID-19, like proposing to reopen the nation by Easter, have been reversed. But a presidential decision to start nuclear war cannot be.

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Democrats Retreat on Nuclear Policy

The 2020 authorization bill fails to check Trump’s worst impulses.

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Dear Pope Francis: While You're in Japan, Call for No First Use

The pontiff was already planning to call for global nuclear disarmament. Asking the U.S. to adopt a no-first-use policy would make the world a bit safer, faster.

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Democrats Should Not Give New Nukes to a President They Want to Impeach

National security concerns about Trump are only the latest reason Sen. Jack Reed should kill the new sub-launched warhead.

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House to 2020 Candidates: Trump and Nukes Don’t Mix

Those who would win the Democratic nod should heed the vote to kill the new low-yield nuke.

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Trump Was Right to Walk Away — If He's Telling the Truth

North Korea disputes his account, but either way they must reset and try again, soon.

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Trump, Nukes, and No First Use

Two bills aim to enact a long-overdue policy that will make the world less dangerous.

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Congress Rushes to Spend Billions on Space Weapons—Even if They Don’t Work

Even a bare-bones system would be ridiculously costly, and more likely to foster war than prevent it.

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A Summit Short on Details, Yet Better Than War

The good news is that the Trump administration already has plans to continue the talks.