Our nuclear deterrence work

Nuclear strategy project

The Scowcroft Center is proud to play a central role in crafting an effective and nonpartisan strategic forces policy for the twenty-first century.

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Content

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
Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)

Issue Brief

Jul 15, 2024

Modernizing space-based nuclear command, control, and communications

By Peter L. Hays and Sarah Mineiro

While nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) is in the midst of a modernization overhaul, the space-based elements of NC3 face unique geopolitical, technical, and bureaucratic challenges. This paper focuses on space-based missions and elements of the existing NC3 system, analyzing how ongoing modernization programs are addressing these challenges as well as offering recommendations.

China
Defense Policy
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Experts

Fellow

Kevin P. Chilton

Distinguished Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Cybersecurity Defense Industry

Fellow

Danny Citrinowicz  

Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Cybersecurity

Staff

Markus Garlauskas

Director

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Crisis Management Indo-Pacific

Staff

Lauren D. Gilbert

Deputy Director

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

East Asia Human Rights

Fellow

Elmar Hellendoorn

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Defense Policy Dutch

Staff

Kyoko Imai

Associate Director

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Security & Defense Japanese
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