President Putin’s October 3rd executive order suspending the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PMDA) is the latest manifestation of the rising tensions between Russia and the United States. Signed in 2000, the PMDA committed Russia and the United States to the disposal of at least 34 tons of their respective stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium. Plutonium […]
Why We Still Need to Cooperate with Russia on Nuclear Security
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 dismantled a highly centralized multi-national government, leaving behind 15 newly independent states, an economy in chaotic transition, and an enormous nuclear weapons complex. The sudden meltdown of the military structures that had managed the Soviet nuclear arsenal for decades left destructive weapons, technologies, and materials exposed and […]
Ask an Expert: Senator Richard Lugar on Cooperative Threat Reduction
Senator Richard Lugar represented the state of Indiana from 1977-2013. Along with Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA), he authored the legislation that established the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in 1991. He currently serves as the president of The Lugar Center, a non-profit organization in Washington, D.C. [This interview has been edited for length and clarity.] Nukes […]
Cooperation Amidst Conflict: The Importance of Common Ground in U.S.-Russia Relations
By: Abigail Stowe-Thurston The video is distressing: two Russian Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft fly aggressively toward a U.S. naval destroyer in the Baltic Sea, missing the ship by just 30 feet. No, this wasn’t a Cold War encounter – it’s footage from April 12, 2016, an emblem of the current geopolitical strain between the United […]
Summary of Senate Version of Fiscal 2016 National Defense Authorization Bill
On May 12, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved a $602 billion authorization bill by a vote of 23-3. The three Senators who voted no were reported as Deb Fischer (R-NB), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT). Cruz said he voted no because of the provision requiring women to register for the draft. Lee […]
