Recent Publications

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO
April 1, 2012 — Authors: Dr Jeffrey D McCausland, Dr Tom Nichols, Dr Douglas Stuart NATO has been a “nuclear” alliance since its inception. Nuclear weapons have served the dual purpose of being part of NATO military planning as well as being central to the Alliance’s deterrence strategy. For over 4 decades, NATO allies sought to find conventional and nuclear... MORE

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Arms Control and Proliferation Challenges to the Reset Policy
November 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank The current U.S. reset policy with Russia involves efforts to blaze a path of mutual cooperation on arms control and proliferation. In arms control, we see determined administration attempts to promote greater nuclear reductions in the direction of nuclear zero, including reductions in tactical nuclear weapons. This... MORE

Forecasting Zero: U.S. Nuclear History and the Low Probability of Disarmament
November 1, 2011 — Author: Mr Jonathan Pearl A vigorous debate is occurring among American elites with respect to whether and when the United States should relinquish its nuclear weapons. Bolstering hopes for tangible results is that a U.S. President is again publicly and forcefully supporting disarmament. While this debate, which addresses both technical and... MORE

Russian Nuclear Weapons: Past, Present, and Future
November 1, 2011 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank This book presents several essays analyzing Russia’s extensive nuclear agenda and the issues connected with it. It deals with strategy, doctrine, European, Eurasian, and East Asian security agendas, as well as the central U.S.-Russia nuclear and arms control equations. This work brings together American, European, and... MORE

Colloquium Brief: The Energy and Security Nexus: A Strategic Dilemma
July 15, 2011 — Key Insights. The U.S. is relatively well placed when it comes to energy security (defined as security from shocks in prices). We are finding more fossil fuels — especially natural gas — and are otherwise buffered from disaster by advantages ranging from the existence of strategic reserves to market mechanisms that plug gaps in our supply. In the future, we have less to fear from diminishing supply than from rising demand, especially in rapidly industrializing countries. The U.S. should engage in a policy of strategic restraint in the Middle East: military force is not the best instrument to use in securing energy supplies. However, the U.S. Armed Forces can increase energy efficiency, provided this does not undermine the effectiveness of its fighting forces... MORE

Brazil’s Security Strategy and Defense Doctrine
March 1, 2011 — Authors: Mr Andrew Fishman, Dr Max G Manwaring Brazil is a developing nation well situated in time and place. Unlike other areas of the world, it has no bloody religious or ethnic conflicts, and its last border conflict took place in the early 19th century. However, Brazil is the most populous Latin American nation, with nearly 200 million... MORE

Nuclear Power’s Global Expansion: Weighing Its Costs and Risks
December 1, 2010 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski When security and arms control analysts list what has helped keep nuclear weapons technologies from spreading, energy economics is rarely, if ever, mentioned. Yet, large civilian nuclear energy programs can—and have—brought states quite a way towards developing nuclear weapons; and it has been market economics, more than... MORE

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Reviewing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)
April 1, 2010 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski As currently interpreted, it is difficult to see why the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) warrants much support as a nonproliferation convention. Most foreign ministries, including that of Iran and the United States, insist that Article IV of the NPT recognizes the “inalienable right” of all states to develop... MORE

Thinking about Nuclear Power in Post-Saddam Iraq
April 1, 2010 — Author: Dr Norman Cigar Iraqis are debating the desirability of atomic power for their country. One can expect increasing Iraqi calls for a revival of the country’s nuclear capability, at least in the civilian sector, which reflects a general consensus within key sectors of Iraqi public opinion as well as a growing regional trend. The Iraqi... MORE

Resetting the Reset Button: Realism About Russia
December 1, 2009 — Author: Dr Stephen J Blank Each month a member of the SSI faculty writes an editorial for our monthly newsletter. This is the Op-Ed for the December 2009 newsletter.Read Now MORE

Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Reining in the Risk
December 1, 2009 — Author: Mr Henry D Sokolski Unfortunately, a nuclear terrorist act is only one—and hardly the most probable—of several frightening security threats Pakistan now faces or poses. We know that traditional acts of terrorism and conventional military crises in Southwest Asia have nearly escalated into wars and, more recently, even threatened Indian and... MORE

Escalation and Intrawar Deterrence During Limited Wars in the Middle East
September 1, 2009 — Author: Dr W Andrew Terrill A central purpose of this monograph is to reexamine two earlier conflicts for insights that may be relevant for ongoing dangers during limited wars involving nations possessing chemical or biological weapons or emerging nuclear arsenals. These conflicts are the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the 1991 Gulf War. Both of these... MORE