You asked, we answered! In our annual year-end mailbag podcast episode, host Geoff Wilson and Senior Policy Director Alexandra Bell take on listener-submitted questions, covering topics such as the future of nuclear policy under a Biden administration, the National Defense Authorization Act, “exotic” nuclear weapons and more. Nukes of Hazard · 2020 Mailbag Special Episode
Congress is (finally) paying attention to missile defense costs and failures
By John D. Isaacs and Samuel M. Hickey In the recently completed Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Congress takes some significant steps toward reining in the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and its wayward acquisition strategy. In the bill, Congress levels criticisms at the Pentagon’s handling of missile defense programs, reduces the missile […]
How is the National Defense Authorization Act passed?
The NDAA process, explained
By Monica Montgomery The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorizes appropriations and establishes policy for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons programs at the Department of Energy (DOE), defense intelligence programs, and other defense activities of the federal government (e.g., military construction projects, homeland security programs). The Defense Department is one of the only […]
The President and the Nuclear Button
With the 2020 presidential election looming large, it’s a good time to take a look at the absolute power the President of the United States has over U.S. nuclear weapons. Policy Analyst and Host Geoff Wilson sat down with Dr. Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the Stevens Institute of Technology, to discuss the […]
