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UkraineAlert

Sep 26, 2024

Putin will keep escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working

By Peter Dickinson

More than two and half years since the start of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, it should now be abundantly clear that Vladimir Putin will continue escalating his nuclear blackmail until it stops working, writes Peter Dickinson.

Arms Control Conflict

Issue Brief

Sep 10, 2024

Russian and Chinese strategic missile defense: Doctrine, capabilities, and development

By Jacob Mezey

In a follow up to Matthew R. Costlow and Robert M. Soofer's paper, US Homeland Missile Defense: Room for Expanded Roles, former Forward Defense Program Assistant, Jacob Mezey, seeks to inform debates about missile defense policy by placing arguments that US ballistic missile defenses are uniquely destabilizing in the context of efforts by Russia and China to deploy similar systems.

China Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Sep 3, 2024

Moscow escalates nuclear threats as Ukraine erases Russia’s red lines

By Peter Dickinson

The Kremlin has this week vowed to revise its nuclear doctrine as Moscow seeks to regain the fear factor after Ukraine's invasion of Russia's Kursk region made a mockery Putin's nuclear red lines, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Industry

UkraineAlert

Aug 27, 2024

Putin hopes Belarus border bluff can disrupt Ukraine’s invasion of Russia

By Peter Dickinson

With his overstretched army struggling to repel Ukraine's invasion of Russia, Vladimir Putin has pressed Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka to mass troops on the Ukrainian border, but Belarus is unlikely to join the war, writes Peter Dickinson.

Belarus Conflict

In the News

Aug 21, 2024

McCue co-authors chapter in edited volume on US and Indian approaches to nuclear security challenges

By Atlantic Council

On August 13, 2024, Forward Defense Visiting Senior Fellow Lieutenant Colonel James McCue co-authored a chapter in a new book published by Springer titled The Challenges of Nuclear Security: U.S. and Indian Perspectives.

Arms Control Crisis Management

UkraineAlert

Aug 21, 2024

Invasion? What invasion? Putin is downplaying Ukraine’s Kursk offensive

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's efforts to downplay Ukraine's invasion of Russia have severely dented his strongman image and make a mockery of the West's escalation fears, writes Peter Dickinson.

Conflict Defense Policy

UkraineAlert

Aug 15, 2024

Ukraine’s invasion of Russia exposes the folly of the West’s escalation fears

By Oleksiy Goncharenko

Ukraine's invasion of Russia has shown that Putin’s talk of red lines and his nuclear threats are just a bluff to intimidate the West, writes Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Conflict Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Jul 30, 2024

To deter Russia, NATO must adapt its nuclear sharing program

By Michael John Williams

Russian President Vladimir Putin has time and again played the United States and its European allies, believing that they are too scared of the long shadow cast by nuclear weapons to push back against his threats.

Defense Policy Europe & Eurasia

In the News

Jul 21, 2024

Hays and Massa in Forbes on the risk of a Russian nuclear detonation in space

By Atlantic Council

On July 21, Mark Massa and Peter Hays were quoted in Forbes on nuclear threats to space, drawing from a recent Forward Defense report

Europe & Eurasia Nuclear Deterrence

IranSource

Jul 18, 2024

Pezeshkian’s election could become a burden for Israel

By Raz Zimmt

President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian’s views on Israel mirror the current consensus among Iranian decision-makers.

Conflict Iran

Experts