The New York Times has a splashy interactive editorial, “Trump’s Nuclear Arsenal.” It’s good, but gets a few things wrong — things that matter like Mutual Assured Destruction, Robert McNamara’s famous thought experiment on sizing US nuclear forces, and how the US targets nuclear weapons. Also, they misuse decimate. Aaron and Jeffrey talk through the problems with …
Do As I Say, Not As I Do: Demanding Strengthened Inspections in Iran
by | 2017-10-30 | 1 Comment
Quote of the week: “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” —Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865) We are now in a sixty-day period in which the Congress can propose strengthening measures for the Iran nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – in …
97% Invincible
by | 2017-10-26 | No Comments
President Trump said each of the missile defense interceptors at the Ground-based Midcourse Defense site in Alaska has a 97% chance of shooting down a North Korean missile and that two would have a 100% chance. Statistics don’t work like that, at least that’s not how it was taught where Jeffrey and Aaron went to school. We …
“One Last Chance” for Pakistan
by | 2017-10-24 | 7 Comments
Quotes of the week: “Pakistan is now hoist on its own petard. Calling off cross-border terrorism in Kashmir would insure that militancy within Pakistan intensifies, while continuing to support cross-border terrorism would alienate Pakistan even further internationally.” —P.R. Chari, “Nuclear Restraint, Risk Reduction, and the Security-Insecurity Paradox in South Asia,” 2004 “Each country, as a …
