The INF Crisis: Bad Press and Nuclear Saber Rattling
The INF Crisis: Bad Press and Nuclear Saber Rattling
Last year, the United States accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty by test-launching a ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM) in a range that violates provisions of the treaty. Russia rejected the accusation and counter-accused the United States of violating the treaty. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter appears to confirm that the GLCM Russia allegedly test-launched in violation of the INF Treaty is a nuclear missile and threatened further escalation if it is deployed. The Obama administration is currently considering how to respond if Russia does not return to INF compliance but produces and deploys the new nuclear GLCM. Diplomacy and sanctions have priority for now, but military options are also being considered. Hans Kristensen writes that both Russia and the United States have to be in compliance with their arms control obligations, but threatening counterforce would be counterproductive.
LEARN MORE
The INF Crisis: Bad Press and Nuclear Saber Rattling
Ballistic Missile Defense and Strategic Stability in East Asia
Ballistic Missile Defense and Strategic Stability in East Asia
On February 20, 2015, FAS hosted a workshop examining ballistic missile defense in East Asia and strategic stability between the United States and China. Frank Rose, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance at the State Department, served as the keynote speaker at the workshop. Rose spoke about China’s ballistic missile program, its relationship to China’s anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons program, and how to achieve strategic stability between the United States and China.
LEARN MORE
Ballistic Missile Defense and Strategic Stability in East Asia
Winter 2015 Public Interest Report
Winter 2015 Public Interest Report
The Winter 2015 issue of the Public Interest Report is now available online. New issue features articles on nuclear waste disposal, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and strategic nuclear stability between the United States and China.
LEARN MORE
Winter 2015 Public Interest Report
Classified and Public: B-53 Bomb Yield Declassified
Classified and Public: B-53 Bomb Yield Declassified
The explosive yield of the B-53 thermonuclear bomb, once the highest-yield nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal, was 9 Megatons, per recently declassified information posted by the Departments of Defense and Energy. This is less of a breakthrough in declassification policy than might be supposed, since the 9 Megaton yield for the B-53 bomb has been publicly reported for decades. But it seems that this information had not been officially disclosed before. Now that it has been, it can be publicly acknowledged by government employees without penalty and it no longer need be painstakingly redacted from historical documents as they are processed for declassification.
LEARN MORE
Classified and Public: B-53 Bomb Yield Declassified
