Podcast · Thread
US nuclear policy
Posture reviews, budgets, new weapons, and the debate over resuming nuclear testing.
Presidents, candidates and the button 7
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The Donald and the Nuclear Trump and the bomb
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2 Donald 2 Nuclear
The election is over and Donald Trump is our president elect. The president elect and the nuclear did make regular appearances on…
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The Donald and the Nuclear 3: Tokyo Drift
Donald Trump can independently order the United States to launch nuclear weapons. No, really … he can independently order the use American…
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The Donald and the Nuclear V: The Senate Strikes Back
“Liddle Bob Corker” and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the President’s authority to use nuclear weapons. A bipartisan…
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The Donald and The Nuclear 7: Parting Shots
Nancy Pelosi has indicated that Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has assured her that there are safeguards against…
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Biden and the Bomb
Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. While the popular perception of Biden is that he’s quite moderate, on nuclear issues…
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Deproliferation in the Debates
During one of the Democratic Presidential primary debates, Elizabeth Warren and Governor Whats-his-name sparred over nuclear weapons, no-first use and deproliferation. Aaron,…
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The Trump Dump: Sources and Methods
If you study nuclear weapons, you study something secret. Not surprisingly, we spend a lot of time in the arms control community…
Posture reviews and declaratory policy 6
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Let the Uploading Begin
Aaron and Jeffrey sat down to discuss the Trump administration’s review of nuclear strategy, the case for uploading, and what it all…
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The Relevance of the Nuclear Posture Review
Is the Nuclear Posture Review something worth doing, or a massive waste of time and political capital? Jeffrey and Aaron vote “waste.”…
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Reviewing the Nuclear Posture Review
A draft of the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review has leaked — and its a doozy. Aaron and Jeffrey discuss the history of these…
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Tiny Nukes for Tiny Hands
The Trump Administration is reportedly mulling the development of new “low yield” nuclear weapons in its Nuclear Posture Review. But is this…
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The Donald, The Nuclear and No First Use
During the first Presidential debate, Donald Trump was asked about whether the United States should pledge not to be the first to use…
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Barry’s Legacy and the Bomb
Like every other two term President, Barack Obama has turned attention in the final months has turned to his legacy, and what…
Modernization and the arsenal 7
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Hyperbolic Hyper Hype
The hype is real. Maybe its a branding thing, maybe people forget ballistic missiles are a thing, maybe nobody thinks “glider force”…
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Fancy Ass SWERVE
On Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019, at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time, the U.S. Air Force, in partnership with the Strategic Capabilities Office, conducted…
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The U.S.’s Post-INF Ballistic Missile
Launch a missile, get a pod, post-INF Treaty edition. On December 12, 2019, the U.S. Air Force and the Strategic Capabilities office…
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ICBM Basing Modes
There is a healthy debate about how much a new ICBM will cost the US Air Force. One question is whether to base the new…
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Hilary and the LRSO
Leaked audio proves that Hilary Clinton revealed her secret plan to cancel the nuclear-armed cruise missile at a fundraiser in February. Except…
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Modernization Mountain: Ash Carter and the Aging Triad
After a series of scandals, incoming Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has some tough choices to make about US nuclear weapons and…
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The Trillion Dollar Triad?
It’s budget time in the United States! And what’s on the agenda – nuclear weapons. Today, Aaron and Jeffrey discuss the plans…
Allies and weapons abroad 5
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The Washington Declaration
President Yoon of South Korea recently visited the United States to talk nukes and Don McLean with President Biden. Jeffrey and Aaron…
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Mort Halperin and the Okinawa Decision
Mort Halperin a giant as an academic and a policy practitioner. And he’s working on a memoir that covers his sixty year…
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Tailkits and the Turks: US Nuclear Weapons in Turkey
The New York Times reported recently that US officials are considering removing US nuclear weapons from Turkey. Aaron knows a bit about…
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If You See, Kay
US Ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, made some news. And not in a good way. She was trying to say that…
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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…
Nuclear testing 4
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Conscious Decoupling
U.S. Undersecretary of State Tom DiNanno accused China of conducting decoupled, low-yield nuclear tests including on June 22, 2020. Aaron and Jeffrey…
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A Return to Nuclear Testing
Donald Trump directed “the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” with other countries. The Department…
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Jeffrey Visits the Test Site
Road trip to Vegas. As part of an NGO transparency visit, NNSA opened up the Nevada Test Site to a group of…
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Renewed Nuclear Testing in… the U.S.?
John Hudson and Paul Sonne at the Washington Post broke the story that Trump administration officials have discussed conducting additional nuclear tests…
Ideas and history 5
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The Wizards of Armageddon
Jeffrey and Aaron walk through a piece of foundational field canon, The Wizards of Armageddon by Fred Kaplan, discussing its coverage of institutional…
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Nuclear Security for Who?
Jasmine Owens, Lead Organizer and Policy Coordinator at the Physicians for Social Responsibility, joins Jeffrey to discuss social justice and nuclear weapons.…
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Nuclear Rationality and the 2020 Commission
In today’s episode, Aaron and Jeffrey discuss the 2020 Commission and its relationship with how we are conditioned to think about nuclear weapons. The…
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Our Source was the New York Times
The New York Times has a splashy interactive editorial, “Trump’s Nuclear Arsenal.” It’s good, but gets a few things wrong — things…
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The Bombing of Hiroshima
In this week’s podcast, Jeffrey speaks to Aaron live from Hiroshima. Seventy years after the first use of nuclear weapons, Aaron and…