Years

2025

24 posts

Episode36 min

Iran’s Pathway to the Bomb

Aaron and Jeffrey finally deconflict their schedules to talk about the outcome of the Israeli-Iranian war, Iran’s pathway back to the bomb, and why they’re both irritated with the “fix it or nix it crowd.”

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Institute of Atomic Energy in Pyongyang

A post written with Allison Berke… While the locations of many of North Korea’s most important nuclear facilities are known to the general public, one of North Korea’s more obscure locations has remained a mystery. In the mid-1980s, North Korea…

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Recalling two mentors

1. Jonathan D. Pollack My father, Jonathan Pollack, died at the end of May after what’s politely called a long convalescence. He had worked over several decades as a scholar of Chinese foreign and defense policy. After completing his PhD…

Episode28 min

Israel Strikes Iran

Aaron and Jeffrey sat down to discuss the latest new from Iran, where Israel has been launching strike on leadership, nuclear, and missile targets.

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A New Enrichment Plant At Yongbyon?

By Jeffrey Lewis and Sam Lair On Monday, June 9, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reported to the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna that “the Agency is monitoring the construction of a new building at Yongbyon which has dimensions…

Episode28 min

The Pahalgam Panic

In what seems like clockwork, India and Pakistan fought an “almost war” recently, prompting concerns about the risk of nuclear war. Aaron and Jeffrey sat down to talk about the crisis, the meaning of deterrence, and how it worked during…

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Iran’s (Not So) Integrated Air Defenses at Natanz

Jeffrey and I recently had a story with Aaron Mehta in Breaking Defense on Iran’s air defenses around Natanz: Aaron Mehta, “Iran’s air defenses around nuclear site more ‘brittle’ than expected: Exclusive analysis,” Breaking Defense, May 15, 2025, https://breakingdefense.com/2025/05/irans-air-defenses-around-nuclear-site-more-brittle-than-expected-exclusive-analysis/ Since…