March 15, 2023

Designating North Korean Nuclear Weapons as Proliferation Risks: A Proposal for Forestalling Major Power Conflicts in the Event of North Korea's Internal Collapse

Could the U.S. and China find grounds for tacit cooperation on nuclear issues in a future scenario where North Korea collapses? While relations between the two states in early 2023 are very poor, in the past Washington and Beijing have worked together on a number of nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear safety issues, to include securing and safely removing highly-enriched uranium from Nigeria and Ghana. South Korea could play an important diplomatic role in encouraging the two major power rivals to revisit and perhaps renew communication and cooperation on nuclear issues. This could prove important to the two states finding some form of common ground and perhaps even tacit collaboration to prevent North Korean nuclear weapons from becoming “loose nukes” if the country experiences some future internal collapse.

Sept. 16, 2022

North Korean Nuclear Command and Control: Alternatives and Implications

This study examines alternative approaches North Korea could take for command and control of its nuclear forces (NC2) as it makes critical choices on the type of nuclear strategy and posture it wishes to adopt. The report helps fill an important analytical gap in current assessments of North Korea, and also examines implications of North Korea’s choices for U.S. and South Korean deterrence strategies and defense planning. This work can help shed light on the most recent announcements made by North Korea concerning its nuclear forces.

Oct. 20, 2021

Future Directions for Great Power Nuclear Arms Control: Policy Options and National Security Implications

With New START expiring in 2026, this Occasional Paper by 2020 National Defense University-U.S. Strategic Command Scholar Lt T. Justin Bronder, USAF, provides an assessment of several possible nuclear arms control/risk reduction approaches for the United States to consider. The author evaluates each approach for its possible impact on U.S.-Russia strategic stability, extended deterrence, budget costs, and other key factors, and recommends that in the near-term the United States engage other major nuclear powers in talks on new risk reduction and confidence-building measures.

Aug. 24, 2021

Policy Roundtable: The Future of Trans-Atlantic Nuclear Deterrence

CSWMD's Dr. Amy J. Nelson recently wrote a piece featured in the Texas National Security Review. The article, titled the "The Cost of Uncertainty: European Strategic Autonomy and U.S.-E.U. Relations," was drafted for a workshop titled “Transatlantic Disruption” at Perry World House, the University of Pennsylvania’s global affairs hub. The workshop was made possible by the Shapiro Global Workshop on Geopolitics Fund and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

April 7, 2021

Nuclear Posture Review Implementing Guidance Task 20 (Professional Military Education)

4 September 2018 — Task #20 of the implementing guidance for the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) directs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as follows:Within 90 days, in coordination with the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Services and Combatant Commanders, study and recommend methods to enhance and institutionalize professional military education and

March 10, 2021

Three’s Company? Prioritizing Trilateral Deterrence Against North Korea

Dr. Shane Smith and Brad Glosserman, Tama University, recently wrote a piece for War on the Rocks arguing that the United States should prioritize and operationalize a trilateral U.S.-Japan-South Korea approach to deterring North Korea. Their article offers concrete steps toward building a trilateral deterrence partnership.

Feb. 25, 2021

Deterring, Countering, and Defeating Conventional-Nuclear Integration

Dr. Justin Anderson and Lt Col James R. McCue, USAF, propose a three-part framework using the Department of Defense’s Deterrence Operations – Joint Operating Concept (deny benefits, impose costs, and encourage restraint) to bolster US and allied deterrence postures in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

Feb. 1, 2021

The Future of Weapons of Mass Destruction: An Update

In an update to their 2014 paper on the future of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), John P. Caves, Jr., and W. Seth Carus assess and offer policy considerations on the significant geopolitical and technological developments shaping the future of WMD since 2014.

Jan. 27, 2021

China’s Hypersonic Weapons

Bernstein and Hancock identify potential strategic and operational issues that will need to be addressed as China's hypersonic capabilities mature.

Fit for Purpose? The U.S. Strategic Posture in 2030 and Beyond Oct. 15, 2020

Toward an Integrated Strategic Deterrent

Mr. Paul Bernstein's article for the Center for Global Security Research Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory explores the need for greater integration across the strategic forces toolkit as a means to strengthen deterrence and defense, the opportunities that exist to advance this goal, and obstacles that must be overcome to ensure progress