Policy Memos

Trust Is Imperative for U.S.-China Cooperation on Nuclear Security Issues

It is generally recognized that the U.S. and China share significant common interests in cooperating on issues of nuclear nonproliferation and arms control. The robustness of nuclear deterrence determines that quality and quantity of nuclear weapons no longer dominate the calculations around nuclear policy as long as a nuclear retaliatory capability can be maintained. Nuclear primacy is hardly a viable or even a desirable goal to pursue.

Last month marked the fiftieth anniversary of the most significant crisis of the nuclear age: the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. detection of Soviet nuclear forces on the island of Cuba in October 1962 precipitated a tense thirteen day standoff between the two superpowers. The Soviets ultimately agreed to withdraw the missiles from Cuba in exchange for U.S. promises (1) not to invade the island and (2) remove nuclear-tipped Jupiter missiles from Turkey. Yet why did the Soviets place nuclear missiles in Cuba in the first place?

Deterrence Theory and Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons in Russia

This memo illuminates how various factions of the Russian strategic community perceive non strategic nuclear weapons (NSNW), their role in national security, their potential use, and their modernization paths. The study offers an alternative and novel argument about the notion of Russian regional nuclear deterrence, and puts forth practical and theoretical implications.

China’s Approach to Address Nuclear Crisis on Korea Peninsula

My paper aims to explore how China has trying to reconcile its key objectives and major national interests on the Peninsula which have to some extent strained its strategic options as well as China’s relations with major stakeholders in North East Asia region.