Nuclear Security & Arms Control

Nuclear security depends on protecting nuclear materials, facilities, transport systems, personnel, and sensitive information from theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, and other deliberate threats. Because the consequences of failure can be serious, secrecy has always played an important role in this field. However, secrecy alone does not create effective security. A system can remain highly classified […]

Arms control and disarmament are two important ideas in international security. They are often used together, but they do not mean the same thing. Both approaches aim to reduce the danger of war, limit the harm caused by weapons, and create a safer world. However, they work in different ways. The simplest way to understand […]

Nuclear treaties are often discussed as formal diplomatic documents, but their importance goes far beyond signatures and legal language. They create limits, verification systems, communication channels, and shared expectations between states that possess nuclear weapons. When such treaties expire without replacement, the result is not always an immediate crisis. The more serious effect is usually […]

Strategic stability is one of the most important ideas in nuclear policy because it deals with a basic question of the nuclear age: how can rival states avoid turning fear, miscalculation, or military pressure into catastrophe? The concept does not mean friendship between nuclear powers, and it does not require full trust. Instead, it describes […]

Nuclear arms agreements are only as strong as the confidence they create. In an area where the consequences of error can be catastrophic, simple promises are not enough. Governments need ways to check whether limits are being respected, whether declared information is accurate, and whether suspicious activity can be explained before it becomes a crisis. […]

Nuclear deterrence is one of the most powerful and controversial ideas in national security policy. It is built on a difficult assumption: the threat of unacceptable destruction can prevent war by convincing an adversary that aggression would cost more than it could ever gain. In simple terms, deterrence is not about winning a nuclear war. […]

Arms control treaties can sound like a subject from the Cold War. The phrase may bring to mind long negotiations, nuclear summits, inspection teams, and agreements between rival superpowers. Yet arms control is not only a historical issue. In the 21st century, it may be more important than ever. The world has not become safer […]

New START was more than another treaty in the long history of U.S.–Russia arms control. It was a practical framework for managing the most dangerous part of the relationship between the two countries: their strategic nuclear forces. At a time when political trust was already fragile, the treaty gave both sides rules, ceilings, data exchanges, […]

The New START Treaty was one of the most important nuclear arms control agreements between the United States and Russia in the post-Cold War era. Ratified by the U.S. Senate and brought into force in 2011, the treaty created a framework for limiting deployed strategic nuclear weapons, improving transparency, and maintaining a more predictable security […]