Category: Nuclear Deterrence

The troubling significance of Putin’s Pyongyang deal

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Watching Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Pyongyang summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un from the vantage point of this at-risk democracy’s capital makes the significance of the meeting all the more terrifying. It isn’t so much the contents of the new Putin-Kim agreement, which depending on who you listen to is either a

Vladimir Putin just tacitly admitted Crimea is not really part of Russia

Ukraine achieved a major diplomatic breakthrough last week, securing the green light from key allies for strikes inside Russia using Western weapons. The Russian reaction to this landmark news has bordered on the hysterical, with a host of Kremlin officials and propagandists denouncing the West and vowing terrible revenge. Predictably, Vladimir Putin led the way,

Torres coauthored for CSIS about Chinese hypersonic missiles in South American space ground control sites

Original Source On May 21, Forward Defense Nonresident Senior Fellow Guido Torres coauthored an article for the Center for Strategic and International Studies titled “Space, Speed, and Sovereignty: Hypersonic Tensions in the Southern Hemisphere.” The piece underscores that Chinese hypersonic missile connection to ground control sites in South America poses a threat for the United

The nuclear fatwa that wasn’t—how Iran sold the world a false narrative

“The idea struck me to introduce the concept of a fatwa [during the 2004 nuclear] negotiations. There was no coordination [in advance],” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator at the time recounted eight years after the incident. This was nothing short of a stroke of genius in shaping a false narrative about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program,

Western fear of escalation will hand Putin an historic victory in Ukraine

Millions of Ukrainians watched with mixed emotions over the weekend as a coalition of countries came together to protect Israeli airspace from Iranian bombardment. Ukraine’s reaction was hardly surprising. After all, this impressive display of international air defense efficiency was exactly what the Ukrainians themselves have been pleading for ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion of

Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely

Russia could respond with nuclear weapons if the West sends troops to Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has warned. In his annual State of the Nation address on February 29, the Russian dictator said any attempt to deploy Western troops in Ukraine “threatens a conflict with nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization.” This was the latest

Putin’s unpunished Crimean crime set the stage for Russia’s 2022 invasion

On February 24, the world will reflect on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While attention is understandably focused on the current phase of Russia’s war, this week also marked ten years since the Kremlin first began its attack on Ukraine with the military takeover of Crimea. One decade on, it should

Garlauskas quoted in the Daily Beast on fears of North Korean aggression

ORIGINAL SOURCE On February 5, Markus Garlauskas’ remarks from a recent public event at the Korea Society were quoted by the Daily Beast. The article, examining rising fears of North Korean aggression, referenced his recent comments that the focus should not be on full-scale war, but “in that space between provocation of war.”  Staff Markus

Narang on the State of the World podcast

Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future

The role of nuclear weapons in a Taiwan crisis

download pdf Executive summary The potential for a conflict over Taiwan is increasing due to China’s nuclear and conventional military buildup and the threat of two simultaneous conflicts with China and Russia, which would severely stress the ability of US and allied conventional forces to win in both theaters. Nuclear weapons will cast a long