Thirty seconds closer to midnight… The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has taken the unprecedented step of moving the Doomsday Clock ahead 30 seconds, taking the world to 2½ minutes to midnight
Too Near Nuclear Midnight
Category: Nuclear Weapons
‘Satan’ Sarmat
Via RT — Russia has unveiled the first image of its new thermonuclear missile system, RS-28 Sarmat, nicknamed “Satan-2” by NATO. The MIRV’d Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, designed to be fitted with hypersonic warheads, are expected to go into production as early as 2018. Tags: Calculus of War; Cold War 2.0; Nuclear Proliferation; Hypersonic Arms Race
To Ban or Not to Ban Nuclear Weapons
October 27, 2016 — The United Nations today adopted a landmark resolution to launch negotiations in 2017 on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons. This historic decision heralds an end to two decades of paralysis in multilateral nuclear disarmament efforts.
Bad Week for the Global Anti-Nuke Movement
This week we take another look at the anti-nuclear weapon movement from the perspective of America magazine, the Catholic journal that has special relevance as the first Jesuit pontiff of Catholics is moving the Church’s formal position on nuclear weapons actively toward ‘abolition’ and a legal, international ban on nuclear weapons
As the US Preps for a New President
At StratDem we look out at the security horizon and continue our attempt to develop “New Definitions of National Security” with an emphasis on bringing together “Environment Security with National Security”. Today we look at two key executive presidential actions in this regard, and a poll of American voters on likelihood of nuclear weapons use […]
End First-Use of Nukes
Continuing on our push for a change in US nuclear weapon first-use policy, we fair-use post an editorial arguing again with growing support that now is time for the President to use his executive powers as the clock ticks toward his last days in office. “President Obama has an opportunity to further delegitimize nuclear weapons […]
NextGen Nuclear Weapons and the Codes
A newly initiated modernization of US nuclear weapons will empower the next US president. As StratDem continues to report, the next generation of ‘smart’, usable nuclear systems rapidly being developed is delivering Cold War 2.0
Nuclear Brink / End of Times
Last week we wrote of President Obama and his National Security counsel as they prepared to leave office and leave behind the power of the White House to shape security policy. This week we continue on the theme of the president’s legacy and strategic nuclear risks by again considering My Journey at the Nuclear Brink […]
A New Nuclear Arsenal and Reflections on a President’s Last Days in Office
A decade ago your editor organized a policy conference in Washington DC with a group of national security experts that ranged from a former NSC senior staffer (and Kissinger aide who resigned in protest of the Cambodia invasion) Roger Morris to current National Security Advisor Susan Rice. The 2006 conference was inauspiciously called “Surviving Victory”
@ Hiroshima
HIROSHIMA, Japan — The survivors of the world’s first atomic bomb attack are used to hearing grand vows to rid the world of nuclear weapons. They just don’t usually come directly from the leader of the country that dropped the bomb
The Doomsday Clock, 3 Minutes to Midnight
Atomic scientists look into the future and to the past. With them, we see the capabilities and catastrophic dangers of nuclear weapon modernization, new nukes, more ‘usable’ nukes, an atomic gamesmanship that now looks to space. Add hypersonic China and space MIRVing. Doomsday Clock is at 3 Minutes to Midnight
William Perry: What Are the Odds?
Miscalculation, mistake, a cyber attack or provocation that spirals out of control… the reality of cold war-legacy systems with hair-trigger response imperatives… escalating political conflict and threats… the development and deployment of a next generation of tactical / strategic nuclear weapons, bombers, missiles, submarines… The 21st century scenario is delivering ominous nuclear odds
Remembering a Day in 1962
53 years ago today, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, second-in-command Vasili Arkhipov of the Soviet submarine B-59 refused to agree with his Captain’s order to launch nuclear torpedos against US warships and beginning a nuclear war between the superpowers
Next-Gen Nuclear Weapons Stand Off
Since Strategic Demands inception, we have been focusing on national and global environmental security issues. Nuclear proliferation is among our first-tier concerns and a next generation of nukes will soon make their in-theater presence known with ‘smart’, deployed B61-12 weapons and newly configured F-35 platforms. Ready, set, go
Supermoon over Washington
As Presidents Obama and Putin meet in New York … the UN meets this week under a supermoon to talk of the state of the world. In DC and NYC the signs are ominous as the Pope returns from the U.S. to the Vatican and throughout the Mid East, catastrophe escalates as millions of refugees […]
Editorial Point-of-View from Down Under
Iran nuclear deal a win for non-proliferation …
A Day in the Life of a Nuclear Arms Race
As a strategic expert writes of an “unnoticed crisis”, strategic vantage points of those with vision offer clear outlines of nuclear ‘modernization’, escalation, resulting risks, and reduced security over time …. An Unnoticed Crisis: The End of History for Nuclear Arms Control?
