May 16, 2013
As the United States contemplates strategic, political, and economic reasons to pursue further reductions to its nuclear arsenal, perhaps in tandem with Russia, attention must be paid to the composition of each country’s strategic arsenal of submarine-based missiles, nuclear-armed bombers, and land-based missiles. This fact sheet considers the arguments traditionally made about the strengths and weaknesses of each leg of the nuclear triad.
Apr 24, 2013
In 2012, the most recent year for which complete data is available, the U.S. approved $645.7 billion in defense budget authority (fiscal year 2013 dollars). This figure includes funding for the Pentagon base budget, Department of Energy-administered nuclear weapons activities, and the war in Afghanistan.
Apr 18, 2013
A strategy of deterrence and containment should be seen as a serious and plausible means of dealing with a potential nuclear-armed Iran, writes Kingston Reif in his April column for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Mar 28, 2013
Former Senator Jon Kyl continues to make dubious claims about US strategic forces policy write Lt. Gen. Robert Gard (USA, ret.) and Kingston Reif in response to a recent op-ed by Kyl in the Wall Street Journal.
Mar 21, 2013
A summary of the number of nuclear weapons possessed by each nuclear-armed state in 2013.
Mar 21, 2013
"This all-star team is in the right place at the right time, because U.S. national security strategy is at a critical crossroads. With one war over, another one winding down and a budget crisis forcing the Pentagon to reshape itself, the time is ripe to bring our defense policy in line with fiscal and strategic realities," write Lt. General Robert Gard & Terry Lierman for Politico.
Mar 19, 2013
A comprehensive list of U.S., E.U., and United Nations sanctions against Iran.
Mar 12, 2013
"Seoul hasn’t seriously considered nuclear weapons since the 1970s Park Chung-hee military rule," write Kim for her piece in The New York Times.
Mar 7, 2013
"Rather than prolonging the quagmire in Afghanistan, Obama should take this opportunity to finally to honor his commitment to bring our troops home," write John Isaacs and Usha Sahay in The Gilmer Mirror.
Mar 6, 2013
It's good to see further arms control measures on President Obama's agenda, writes Kingston Reif in his March column for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Feb 27, 2013
"The sanctions are meant to be, and must be, used as leverage in acquiring a deal with Iran. This is not weakness; it is strategy in its simplest form," writes Heeley.
Feb 26, 2013
The Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review implementation study will lead to guidance for revisions in U.S. nuclear strategy and posture, including a reduction in the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. national security strategy.
Feb 21, 2013
Reducing the size of the arsenal makes both strategic and fiscal sense, writes Kingston Reif in a letter to the editor published in The Baltimore Sun.
Feb 21, 2013
In remarks on February 6, Senator John Hoeven (R-ND) spoke about the benefits of nuclear deterrence and the U.S. nuclear triad. But in a post-Cold War era, many of his arguments don't stand up to scrutiny.
Feb 15, 2013
Kingston Reif describes the options available and historical precedents for reducing the US nuclear arsenal without a formal treaty on Time's Battleland blog.
Feb 11, 2013
US nuclear weapons policy is at a critical crossroad. The administration is currently reviewing future deterrence requirements, which will ultimately revise existing presidential guidance regarding the targeting of nuclear weapons, appropriate force levels, and more.
Feb 11, 2013
Part of President Obama’s ambitious arms control agenda is a fissile material cutoff treaty (FMCT) that would ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons purposes. In this new factsheet, Kingston Reif and Madeleine Foley examine the purpose, background, politics, and challenges of the FMCT.
Feb 8, 2013
"So this time in Almaty, let’s try a new approach, one oriented around mutual concessions rather than stubborn digging into unworkable positions. If we do that, with any luck, this time really can be different," write Laicie Heeley and Usha Sahay in Lobe Log.
Feb 8, 2013
Kingston Reif explains why the United States should be realistic about what missile defense can and can't do in his February column for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Feb 6, 2013
The strategic way to cut defense spending is not by cutting across the board, but by focusing on specific wasteful and unnecessary weapons systems. Nuclear weapons programs should be at the top of this list. With the Cold War far behind us, and an era of difficult budgetary choices ahead, we must ask whether we want to continue bearing the costs of an expensive nuclear arsenal that is a relic of a bygone era and doesn't help to keep us safe.
Feb 2, 2013
Having weathered a firestorm of controversy since his nomination, Hagel's discomfort baffled his colleagues, but in many ways, his stumbling may have also worked to his advantage.
Jan 31, 2013
Kingston Reif explains how Senator Hagel would advance President's Obama's non-proliferation agenda as Secretary of Defense
Jan 25, 2013
Regardless of the upcoming confirmation hearing or its outcomes, there are at least three major reasons why you should care about who will replace Leon Panetta as the head of the Department of Defense.
Jan 16, 2013
Congress simply postponed its tough decisions on federal spending until March, writes Laicie Heeley in the San Antonio Express.
Jan 15, 2013
Two common misconceptions about nuclear weapons continue to live on. Kingston Reif discusses why they shouldn't in his latest column for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Jan 11, 2013
"I don’t think that the solutions to those problems are going to be addressed by attacking the person who’s leaving" the top NNSA post, said Nickolas Roth, a policy fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. Still, "very serious things went wrong in the Y-12 incident, and the new administrator needs to make sure that things like that can’t happen again," he added.
Jan 10, 2013
To resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran, it will be important for Congress to work with the Obama administration on crafting a diplomatic solution, write Laicie Heeley and Usha Sahay in the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
Jan 10, 2013
An assessment of the status of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Jan 9, 2013
As debates about the U.S. use of drones abroad continue, Americans can now own their very own toy drones, complete with miniature hi-def camera and "black box."
Jan 2, 2013
“The Air Force will need to be careful that they don't stir up a hornets nest with proposals for mobile basing or advanced concepts other than the traditional booster and reentry vehicle. The former could cause Russia or China to redouble their efforts on mobile basing of ICBMs, set off a new kind of arms race, and weaken U.S. defenses,” Coyle said.
Jan 2, 2013
Lt. Gen. Gard was featured on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann reaching more than 50 million US homes.
Dec 24, 2012
(The outcome) watered down or eliminated most of the objectionable House nuclear provisions, usually substituting certification requirements or reports,” said Kingston Reif and Laicie Olson, senior analysts with the non-partisan Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, after examining the conference report last week.
Dec 20, 2012
68,000 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, and some have called for the majority of those troops to remain for another year or more. But with little indication that an extended presence will shift the fortune's of NATO's failed efforts in Afghanistan, there is no reason to "stay the course."
Dec 20, 2012
A detailed analysis and overview of the Conference version of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
Dec 18, 2012
Lt. Gen. Gard was featured on The David Pakman Show, syndicated in more than 150 markets.
Dec 18, 2012
Senior Non-Proliferation Fellow Duyeon Kim on North Korea's successful rocket launch and what it means for Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs and global security.
Dec 12, 2012
Too often, the Pentagon spending debate is ensnared in the outmoded ideology of past wars and driven by legions of lobbyists for parochial interests in the military-industrial complex.
Nov 29, 2012
Iron Dome has been effective in intercepting limited numbers of short-range rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, writes Kingston Reif in a blog post at The Daily Beast. But its success is not easily translatable to a larger engagement with Iran and/or Hezbollah—to say nothing about the qualitatively different obstacles posed by defending Europe or the U.S. homeland from nuclear-armed missiles.
Nov 16, 2012
A recent op-ed by Major General William Chambers overstates the benefits of nuclear weapons without taking into account their significant costs, writes Kingston Reif in AOL Defense.
Nov 16, 2012
"The North Korean nuclear problem shouldn’t be an argument to justify suspicions of South Korea’s quest for enrichment and reprocessing capabilities. And the 1991 South-North Joint Declaration to never enrich, reprocess, or station nuclear weapons is a non-starter to dissuade Seoul in 123 negotiations," writes Duyeon Kim, Deputy Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation, in The Hill's Congress Blog on November 16, 2012.
Nov 14, 2012
Kingston Reif was the featured guest on an episode of Inside the Issues, a weekly podcast covering global governance issues hosted by by David Welch, Chair of Global Security at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Nov 13, 2012
Video of Kingston Reif's remarks at the Hudson Institute's event "Combating Nuclear Terrorism: Overcoming the Senate Impasse."
Nov 2, 2012
The U.S. naval fleet in 1916 was designed to fill a singular role, ship-to-ship combat or transport. Conversely, today’s naval fleet is designed to be versatile and multi-objective, writes James Lewis in this new analysis.
Oct 31, 2012
While zombies remain part of myth -- we hope -- the threat of human extinction from disease is very real.
Oct 31, 2012
This Halloween falls just after the 50th anniversary of one of the most terrifying real-life horror stories of all time: The Cuban Missile Crisis, writes Kingston Reif in The Hill's Congress Blog.
Oct 31, 2012
Kingston Reif served on the Center for American Progress' Task Force for a Unified Security Budget, contributing research on nuclear material security and non-proliferation funding to a new report.
Oct 29, 2012
Video and text of Kingston Reif's remarks at the Centre for International Governance Innovation's (CIGI) signature lecture "Empathy or Death: Applying the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the 21st Century."
Oct 22, 2012
In his October column for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Kingston Reif argues that Romney's statements and proposals to date on nuclear weapons policy reflect an obsolete Cold War mindset that would undermine US economic and national security.
Oct 22, 2012
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation’s list of the fifteen most pressing issues that the next President must confront.
Oct 10, 2012
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published "Beyond Treaties," a report on reducing nuclear risks that included a contribution from Kingston Reif, Director of Nuclear Non-Proliferation. In the report, Reif proposed that the United States and Russia exchange information on their offensive forces as a confidence-building measure.