Arms Control Wonk

Episode36 min

Putin’s Nuclear Threat

Did Vladimir Putin just threaten the West with nuclear weapons? Could nuclear weapons be used in Europe? What is Russia’s nuclear doctrine? Does a nuclear balance make the world safe for conventional war? Today, Aaron and Jeffrey talk about Russia’s…

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Crashing Glider, Hidden Hotspring

Don’t miss our podcast on the failed Chinese and US hypersonic launches! Analyzing China’s August 7, 2014 Hypersonic Glider Test James Acton, Catherine Dill and Jeffrey Lewis September 3, 2014 By a lake in an Inner Mongolian desert, about 200…

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Accelerating Descent

Arms control has boom-and-bust cycles. We’re now going through very tough times. They remind me of the Carter administration. As Yogi Berra has said, it feels like déjà vu all over again – only Obama’s challenges are more severe. This…

Episode41 min

A Hypersonic Arms Race

What is the status of China’s and the United States’ hypersonic weapons programs? What can open source tell us about China’s most recent rest? What happened at Kodiak Island? Are hypersonic weapons destabilizing? And why were Jeffrey and James searching…

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Isodarco PSA

For the second year in a row, a PSA regarding the Isodarco conference! Isodarco since 1966 Italian Pugwash Group International School on Disarmament and Research on Conflicts 28th Winter Course on: “GLOBAL NUCLEAR GOVERNANCE: ACTORS, POLICIES AND ISSUES” ANDALO (TRENTO)…

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Uncommon Strategic Restraint

Our nuclear future would take a significant turn for the worse if Beijing and New Delhi begin to mimic Cold War thinking about the utility of nuclear weapons. So far, they haven’t. New Delhi waited 24 years in between nuclear…

Episode44 min

An Expensive Burden: Nuclear Weapons in Europe

Are NATO based nuclear weapons an advantage in a dangerous world? Or are they an expensive and obsolete weapon that undermine NATO burden sharing? Is NATO divided about US nuclear weapons in Europe? Are the weapons secure? Are Euro-Hippies a…

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Geolocating the Toksa Launch

Give it a second to load the map. As I suspected, some of North Korea’s recent “MLRS” tests are more likely tests of the solid-fueled SS-21 Toksa SRBM.  The missile in question is an extended-range SS-21, that may eventually be…

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Brodie at the Beginning

Original Caption: “Professor Bernard Brodie conducting a class.” September 1946. Walter Sanders, photographer. It’s been awhile since I’ve steered aspiring wonks and ACW readers to the virtues of reading Bernard Brodie’s first take about the Bomb. Brodie made some incorrect…

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Korla Missile Test Complex

I have a new column at Foreign Policy, as well as a podcast with Aaron Stein, on China’s testing of hit-to-kill technologies against satellites and ballistic missiles. I’ve been trying to figure out where Arms Control Wonk fits in between…