The relationship between the United States government, private foundations, and university-based researchers working on peace and security policy has evolved over time. Since the end of World War II we can identify four main phases: (1) secret government funding into the 1960s; (2) a Golden Age...

According to the US government, the Russian government is developing a programme to arm some of its satellites with nuclear warheads. Should the Kremlin acquire this capability, it could destroy key parts of the civilian satellite infrastructure by detonating a single nuclear weapon in low Earth...

Originally scheduled for 2020, the 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had to be deferred four times. It was not until August 2022 that the 191 NPT states finally met. At least since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, observers had expected that...

The complexities of multipolarity, heightened global tensions, and increasing militarisation are reshaping the disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation landscape within the United Nations. This report examines these evolving dynamics, contextualising their historical importance and...

At the NATO summit in July 2024, the United States and Germany announced that, in 2026, the United States would be deploying ground-launched medium-range missiles in Germany that can reach targets in Russia's heartland. This deployment is a critical step because it gives NATO new capabilities in...

While a second Trump Presidency would be challenging for transatlantic ties, US nuclear assurances to its NATO allies in Europe would likely be the last casualty - not the first - of a fraying relationship. There is an intrinsic incompatibility between the United States completely abandoning its...

Russia’s war against Ukraine seems to have no immediate end in sight, the strategic competition between China and the US continues, and the expanding military cooperation between China and Russia increases the challenges facing the international community. In this context, the Arctic seems to...

The threat of the use of nuclear weapons by the aggressor is a significant factor in the ongoing war. Also in future, the Ukrainian government (any leadership) will be interested in its own nuclear weapons at least as long as Russia is ruled by an ill-predictable authoritarian regime. Nuclear...

Replacing the US nuclear guarantee with a French nuclear umbrella for Europe would face major political and logistical challenges. Nevertheless, given the growing un­certainty in Europe and Asia, the German government should consider scenarios and options that go beyond today’s deterrence...

Turnusgemäß hätte die 10. Überprüfungskonferenz des Nuklearen Nichtverbreitungsvertrags (Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, NPT) 2020 stattfinden sollen. Nachdem sie viermal verschoben worden war, trafen sich die 191 NPT-Staaten im August 2022. Dass sie sich dabei nicht auf...

Originally scheduled for 2020, the 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) had to be deferred four times. It was not until August 2022 that the 191 NPT states finally met. At least since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, observers had expected that the...

This paper aims to analyze the strategic environment of Taiwan to explore the possibility and feasibility of R.O.C. nuclear armament. I examine quantitative and qualitative indicators by reviewing relevant literature and documents and use identified trends to make plausible inferences on driver...

This study estimates the economic effects of nuclear weapons development efforts in Pakistan using synthetic control group methods. Pakistan started its nuclear weapons program in 1972 and conducted its first test in 1998. This paper focuses on the growth impacts during the 1973 to 1997 period,...

As diplomatic initiatives have thus far failed to achieve the objective of a complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and given that a military solution is generally considered to be unfeasible, sanctions have become the central...

In the West, Russia’s nuclear deterrence strategy is often described as one of “escalate to deescalate”. The thinking goes that Moscow is prepared to use nuclear weapons at an early stage in a conflict in order to “deescalate” and terminate the confrontation quickly in its favour....

Turnusgemäß hätte die 10. Überprüfungskonferenz des Nuklearen Nichtverbreitungsvertrags (Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, NPT) 2020 stattfinden sollen. Nachdem sie viermal verschoben worden war, trafen sich die 191 NPT-Staaten im August 2022. Dass sie sich dabei nicht auf...

A close reading of Russia’s nuclear statements and actions during the first seven months of its war against Ukraine reveals a threefold approach. Moscow is walking a fine line between a well-crafted and successful deterrence strategy to prevent foreign military intervention; a more modest and...

While the world’s attention is focused on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the inten­sifying conflict between the US and China, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula has continued to deteriorate. North Korea is steadily advancing the expansion of its military capabilities and...

Trust between state parties to nuclear nonproliferation agreements is difficult to generate. The context in which these negotiations occur differs greatly from social, market, or interpersonal interactions. Often the other party is an adversary, with a history of negative interactions and...

From the late 1970s into the early 1990s, U.S. federal law mandated the executive branch to prepare annual analytical documents known as Arms Control Impact Statements (ACIS). These instruments – obviously patterned after the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), which had been inaugurated...

The paper examines the economic crisis in the Soviet Union and in this context analyses why arms control was so important from the Soviet point of view. It further discusses the organic relationship between disarmament and development, and rounds of with a case for conversion of Soviet military...

Does a lack of enthusiasm for nuclear energy among the US public relate to connections with nuclear weapons? The United States is projected to decline as the global leader in nuclear power production due to stagnation in the industry. Alongside this trend, US public skepticism of nuclear energy...

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the Iranian Nuclear Deal was a real success of multilateral diplomacy. A transaction in the global request to stop the Iranian nuclear proliferation. The paper focuses on the United States withdraw from JCPOA and the difficulty of European Union to...

Stephen Herzog reviews Rebecca Davis Gibbons' 2022 Cornell University Press book titled "The Hegemon’s Tool Kit: US Leadership and the Politics of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime." He concludes that the book could be a key educational and policymaking resource for understanding the...

Controversy has surrounded the Iran nuclear deal since it was signed two years ago. Although the main stipulations of the agreement have been successfully implemented—Iran has so far complied with the restrictions on its nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions—the...

There is no doubt that the NPT regime is far from being equal for all states involved. As the predominant hegemonic power since WWII, the United States plays a major role in deciding the fates of non-great power proliferators. This article tries to find the logical explanation of the phenomenon...

The paper analyses the determinants of ratification of international treaties concerning arms control. It theorizes that the ratification of an arms control treaty serves as a signal of a country's intention to avoid arms races and wars. I argue that fast growing countries have a special...

This article examines the effect of leaders' foreign policy preferences on their ability to pursue and ratify arms control agreements. Does it take a “Nixon to go to China,” with hawks more effective than doves when it comes to the domestic politics of treaty ratification? We observe that...

Eindrücklich wie nie zuvor klärt Chomsky über die existenziellen Bedrohungen durch Atomwaffen und den Klimawandel auf. Er stellt diese Bedrohungen in den Kontext einer nie dagewesenen Macht der Konzerne und einer zunehmend global vernetzten rechten Elite von der Republikanischen Partei bis...

The administration of President Donald J. Trump has consistently used fear of China to undermine nearly five decades of bipartisan consensus on US–Russian nuclear arms control. The negative consequences of these actions may last far beyond the Trump presidency. If generations of agreement...

The balance a year and a half after the meanwhile second hereditary power transfer to Kim Jong-Un (Kim Chŏng-ŭn), grandson of the founder of the state, is undecided. The breakdown of the system, predicted by many analysts, has not happened yet. Neither have the reforms that were expected from...

Reviews the prominent works in recent years on the relative merits of total nuclear disarmament, and argue that while nuclear weapons have not become irrelevant, they have become less relevant as a result of the processes of globalization

Natural law principles played an important role in the early development of international legal theory, but were subsequently displaced by positivist ideals. Within the past half-century, fundamental changes in international society have revealed the limitations of a purely positivist approach...

As a result of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its “hybrid war” in the Donbas, the present-day nonproliferation regime, with its exceptional treatment of the permanent Security Council members, could in the future, paradoxically, encourage rather than stem the construction or acquisition...

In this energy-constrained world, it is often the politics and not the economics that defines access to energy resources. Growing energy demand of the Asian countries, and in particular, countries where conventional fuel choices are inadequate, are prompting them to look for newer energy options...

French Minister of War Andre Maginot became famous among military strategists for his fixation on a single route of attack that led to fatal neglect of alternatives. Seeking to defeat a German invasion along the primary East-West axis, Maginot constructed an impregnable line of fortifications in...

My research topic will be 'Israel Nuclear Weapons a challenge to Peace and Security in the Middle East' My Research questions are ? 1. How did the Israeli Nuclear Program start? 2. Is it a part of International Strategies for Security in the Middle East to give Israel a deter Force to have the...

The chapter presents an analysis of the decision-making process of leaders on issues of nuclear armament and nuclear disarmament, through four case studies. The first, pertaining armament, is South Africa, with a focus on Pieter Willem Botha, former prime minister and president of South Africa....