Threats
North Korea Says It Has ‘Completed’ Its Nuclear Program. What Does That Mean?
Pyongyang’s message boils down to ‘it’s no use shutting the gate after the horse has moved on.’
Ideas
Cyber and Space Weapons Are Making Nuclear Deterrence Trickier
If you can’t trust your networks or satellite communications in a crisis, ‘use-or-lose’ scenarios get a lot closer.
Ideas
It Takes a Nuclear Weapons Lab to Find a Nuclear Weapons Lab
That’s why the US needs to continue to support cutting-edge science.
Ideas
Don’t Kill the Nuclear Cruise Missile
The CBO’s recent cost-cutting option discounts the loss of capability and risks of cancelling the next-generation ALCM.
Ideas
The Most Dangerous Man in the World
It is dawning on Congress that no one can stop President Trump from ordering a nuclear attack.
Policy
Congress Is Concerned About Who Gets to Launch Nuclear Bombs
Here are three questions to consider during and after lawmakers hear testimony on nuclear authority.
Threats
Can Two Nuclear Powers Fight a Conventional War?
The Pentagon just wargamed that scenario as part of its effort to determine what it needs for 21st-century deterrence.
Threats
US Air Force Chief Helps Young Airman Locate Family In Puerto Rico
After going a month without hearing from his hurricane-stricken family, Sr. Airman Malcom Soto-Gonzalez got a hand from an unexpected source.
Threats
EXCLUSIVE: US Preparing to Put Nuclear Bombers Back on 24-Hour Alert
If the order comes, the B-52s will return to a ready-to-fly posture not seen since the Cold War.
Policy
The Questions Raised By Trump's Iran Deal Decision
The U.S. will stick to the nuclear agreement—for now.
Threats
Trump Administration Gambles On Iran Nuclear Deal
White House staffers say the president will decertify the 2015 seven-party agreement, introducing uncertainty and worrying arms control watchers.
Science & Tech
North Korea Is Testing Not Just Bombs, But the Entire Global Nuclear Monitoring System
It is a miracle of statecraft and science that this collaborative international infrastructure has actually come into being.
Ideas
Why Tactical Nuclear Weapons Are Still A Thing
In the debate over low-yield nukes, opposing camps are largely talking past each other. Here are some thoughts about why they remain necessary.
Science & Tech
The Folly of Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Some soothsayers say they boost deterrence. But the point of deterrence is to have no mushroom clouds, not new, tailor-made ones.
Science & Tech
3 Questions: America’s Next Nuclear-Missile Submarine
Built to deter America's enemies for the next 60 years, the Navy's new missile sub is slated to be the U.S. military’s third most-expensive program — ever.
Science & Tech
The Russians Just Test-Fired an ICBM
Both Washington and Moscow are modernizing their nuclear arsenals, but military leaders worry that Russia is ahead.
Ideas
No, We Cannot Shoot Down North Korea’s Missiles
It's time national leaders speak realistically about missile defense.
Threats
‘Is There Something Going On?’: On Scene at STRATCOM As North Korea Launches Missile
The head of U.S. Strategic Command is whisked to his operations center as a missile flies over Japan.
Business
At US Nuclear Weapons Base, Mattis Signals Support for Triad
But the U.S. defense secretary stopped short of endorsing all types of new nuclear weapons in development.
Policy