Snacks are ready, cozy slippers are on and you’re ready to watch A House of Dynamite on Netflix on your couch. Something pops up on your screen that has you wondering: What is that? Is that realistic? What does that mean? A work of fiction, A House of Dynamite depicts how U.S. national security […]
What ‘A House of Dynamite’ Gets Right and Wrong About the Nuclear Launch Process
[CONTAINS SPOILERS!] The film A House of Dynamite is all about what would happen during a nuclear attack on the United States, and the United States’ own nuclear launch process plays a feature role. RIGHT: While many aspects of the nuclear launch process are highly classified, the procedures depicted in A House of Dynamite are […]
What ‘A House of Dynamite’ Gets Right and Wrong About Missile Defense
[CONTAINS SPOILERS!] In the film A House of Dynamite, U.S. missile defense plays a key role. Here’s what it gets right and wrong. RIGHT: A House of Dynamite correctly underlines that missile defense has been a costly project that has produced, at best, limited defensive capability. It is appropriate to refer to the chances of a […]
Is ‘A House of Dynamite’ Realistic?
[CONTAINS SPOILERS!] Although a work of fiction, A House of Dynamite depicts how U.S. national security organizations interact with accuracy. While there has never been a crisis along the lines of the attack on the United States portrayed in the movie, the screenwriter and director present a reasonable version of how U.S. government officials might […]
Why ‘Tactical’ Nuclear Weapons Are Anything But ‘Usable’
By Julia Cooper, Fall 2025 Policy Intern Vague threats of the use of nuclear weapons, especially tactical ones, have been a critical tool of Russia’s rhetoric around its invasion of Ukraine. Russian drills practicing the use of these weapons have been numerous since the invasion and were further exemplified last month with the Zapad-2025 military […]
