By Bulletin Staff, May 3, 2017
All major nuclear powers have modernization programs in progress, with the US modernization program slated to bring profound changes to all three legs of the nuclear triad. At the same time, the Trump administration has launched a new nuclear posture review, pushing for a large buildup in conventional forces. This special issue on nuclear modernization examines the effects any new buildup of conventional forces could have on the financing of US nuclear modernization, the political coalitions that support it, and overall strategic stability of the effort.
You’ll also get free access to an interview with environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken about Project Drawdown, “the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming.” We’ve also got great coverage of the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty, a thorough examination of DARPA in the age of hybrid war, the closing of Japan’s Monju fast breeder reactor, and a review of Uncommon Cause: A Life at Odds with Convention, a memoir from General George Lee Butler, the man who spearheaded a drastic realignment of post-Cold War nuclear forces.
Here’s what you need to know:
The political and military vulnerability of America’s land-based nuclear missiles
Jon Wolfsthal
Free-access article
The ambiguity challenge: Why the world needs a multilateral nuclear cruise missile agreement
Christine Parthemore
Homeland missile defense: How the United States got here
Thomas Karako
Adapting nuclear modernization to the new administration
Adam Mount
Free-access article
Rising tensions, nuclear modernizations: How Washington can turn down the heat
Lawrence J. Korb
Interview
Paul Hawken: “Game on” for global warming
Dawn Stover
Free-access article
Other features
How will NATO’s non-nuclear members handle the UN’s ban on nuclear weapons?
Tom Sauer
Closing Japan’s Monju fast breeder reactor: The possible implications
Masa Takubo
Book reviews
Here be dragons: DARPA in the age of hybrid war
Brad Allenby
Cold combat: The memoir of a nuclear convert
Janne E. Nolan
Global Forum
Ban the Bomb by… banning the Bomb?
Editor’s note
Lucien Crowder
A Ukrainian response
Polina Sinovets
A Turkish response
Mustafa Kibaroglu
A South African response
Joelien Pretorius
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