CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues
@poni.csis.org
@csis.org’s Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) hopes to sustain a community of next generation nuclear experts & generate new ideas & debate on nuclear issues. Repost ≠ Endorsement
Should the US redeploy TNW's to South Korea for extended deterrence? In On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025, CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar Jaclyn Schmitt explores both sides of the argument. Read the full analysis here:
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Paige MacKinnon is a MA candidate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, and graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies where she works on the open-source intelligence team.
In On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025,PONI Nuclear Scholar Artur Honich explores why the core logic of damage limitation could be relevant to the European theater and what key changes would be required to adapt the concept to the strategic needs of European NATO allies.
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
Can America maintain credible nuclear deterrence against two nuclear peers at once? A new analysis by Alexander Richter examines whether re-MIRVing U.S. ICBMs could provide a near-term answer to growing Russian and Chinese nuclear capabilities. Analysis here:
The Case for Re-MIRVing America’s ICBMs - Nuclear Network
To offset quantitative increases in adversary arsenals in a two-peer nuclear environment, U.S. policymakers should re-deploy multiple-independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) on the…
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
Delve into Baltic countries’ views on the United Kingdom’s commitment to their defense within NATO against the Russia threat in On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025, with PONI Nuclear Scholar Mar Casas Cachinero Read the full analysis here:
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
New Analysis by Alexander Richter, The Case for Re-MIRVing America’s ICBMs Read His full analysis here:
The Case for Re-MIRVing America’s ICBMs - Nuclear Network
To offset quantitative increases in adversary arsenals in a two-peer nuclear environment, U.S. policymakers should re-deploy multiple-independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) on the…
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Laura Luca is a PhD candidate in Political Science at UCLA, a Hans J. Morgenthau Predoctoral Fellow at the O'Brien Notre Dame International Security Center, and an incoming postdoc at Harvard's Managing the Atom project.
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ @shafaqkhan is an analyst supporting the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Nuclear Deterrence and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy and an incoming U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
How are Tabletop Exercises are filling the gap in nuclear sufficiency? In On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025, PONI Nuclear Scholar Sarah Stevenson examines how U.S. planners might respond to limited Chinese nuclear use in a Taiwan contingency through a tabletop exercise.
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
Scoville Fellow '25 Elena Tiedens @poni.csis.org attended the 2026 NPT Review Conference, where she got to hear from international delegates about the state of the global nuclear order.
This year's NPT Review Conference risks producing a hollow consensus on disarmament, in part because China has learned to leverage the treaty's multilateral dynamics to avoid nuclear accountability, writes Diya Ashtakala of @poni.csis.org.
How China uses the Non-Aligned Movement to avoid nuclear accountability
"State parties need to expose and address China’s contradiction at the review conference or else risk legitimizing behavior that erodes the global nuclear order."
thebulletin.org
How Russia Signals Nuclear Resolve with Civilian Nuclear Energy Infrastructure. New analysis by CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Scoville Fellow Elena Tiedens for The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Read the full analysis here: thebulletin.org/2026/05/how-...
How Russia signals nuclear resolve with civilian nuclear energy infrastructure
In Ukraine and Iran, Russia is using civilian nuclear power plants to deter attacks by adversaries. This new form of nuclear signaling is not only dangerous but risks undermining the global nuclear or...
thebulletin.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Caitlin Listek is a Treaty Analyst with the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, where she supports arms control notifications under the New START treaty. She previously served as a contractor for both the Navy and the U.S. Department of State.
We are now accepting applications for the Mid-Career Cadre Class of 2027. The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years and demonstrate promise for moving into leadership positions. Learn More Here!
Mid-Career Cadre - Nuclear Network
The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years and demonstrate promise for moving into leadership positions or bringing new ideas and…
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
In On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025, @CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar Clara Sherwood explores what a crisis with a Nuclear capable Iran would look like and Saudi Arabia’s Courses of Action and U.S. Response Strategies. Read the full analysis here:
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
How China uses the Non-Aligned Movement to avoid nuclear accountability. New analysis by PONI Research Associate Diya Ashtakala for the Bulletin of The Atomic Scientists. Read the full analysis here: thebulletin.org/2026/05/how-...
How China uses the Non-Aligned Movement to avoid nuclear accountability
The US and its allies must push back against China's contradictions—not with empty rhetoric, but with concrete proposals for P5 data-sharing, test-site transparency, and targeted diplomacy with NAM me...
thebulletin.org
100 B-21s won’t be enough, argued Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) during a recent HTK episode. In the conversation with Heather Williams, Tom Karako, and Kari Bingen, she reiterated that more strategic platforms are needed in the current threat environment. Watch here: www.csis.org/events/strat...
Strategic Forces Priorities: A Conversation with Senator Deb Fischer | HTK | CSIS Events
For the first time, the CSIS Defense and Security Department’s HTK Series welcomes a featured guest, Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), to discuss the most consequential issues defining the future of U.S. st...
csis.org
We are now accepting applications for the Mid-Career Cadre Class of 2027. The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years and demonstrate promise for moving into leadership positions. Learn More Here!
Mid-Career Cadre - Nuclear Network
The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years and demonstrate promise for moving into leadership positions or bringing new ideas and…
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Shreya Lad is research assistant to Scott D. Sagan at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Here, she supports research on nuclear security and deterrence, international law, and non-proliferation.
In On The Horizon Vol 8, 2025, CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar Yashar Parsie outlines Illusory Assurance and how the United States maintains assurance as an explicit objective for its nuclear forces. Read the full analysis here: www.csis.org/analysis/hor...
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic stabilit...
csis.org
We are now accepting applications for the Mid-Career Cadre Class of 2027. The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years. Learn More Here: nuclearnetwork.csis.org/programs/mid...
Mid-Career Cadre - Nuclear Network
The Mid-Career Cadre is a select group of nuclear professionals that have been in the field for 7 or more years and demonstrate promise for moving into leadership positions or bringing new ideas and p...
nuclearnetwork.csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Candace Huntington is a graduate student in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. Learn more about the 2026 Nuclear Scholars Initiative: nuclearnetwork.csis.org/programs/nuc...
In On the Horizon Vol 8, 2025 CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Nuclear Scholar Colin Levaunt outlines the Effects of Nonnuclear Strategic Weapons on First-Strike Stability Read the full article here:
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
Yesterday, the CSIS Defense and Security Department hosted Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) for a conversation with Heather Williams , Tom Karako , and Kari Bingen as part of the HTK series to discuss the most consequential issues defining the future of U.S. strategic forces www.csis.org/events/strat...
Strategic Forces Priorities: A Conversation with Senator Deb Fischer | CSIS Events
For the first time, the CSIS Defense and Security Department’s HTK Series welcomes a featured guest, Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), to discuss the most consequential issues defining the future of U.S. st...
csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Sam Clayton is a Program Manager in the Office of Defense Programs at the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Learn more about the 2026 Nuclear Scholars Initiative: nuclearnetwork.csis.org/programs/nuc...
In On the Horizon Vol 8, 2025 PONI chapter More Kill Vehicles, More Problems, Nuclear Scholar Sam Lair explores the question of how will the use of multiple kill vehicles impact crisis stability between the United States and its nuclear-armed adversaries?
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
In On the Horizon Vol 8, Nuclear Scholar Frank Kuhn argues that due to the deteriorating international security environment, the likelihood that the United States will find itself involved in a military conflict with another nuclear power has increased substantially.
On the Horizon, Vol. 8
The 2025 PONI Nuclear Scholars explore the future of nuclear strategy, offering perspectives from emerging experts on disruptive technology, intensifying geopolitical rivalries, and strategic…
csis.org
✨Nuclear Scholars Initiative Spotlight ✨ Emily Cheesman is a Young Global Professional at the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense team. Learn more about the 2026 Nuclear Scholars Initiative: nuclearnetwork.csis.org/programs/nuc...
Join the CSIS Defense and Security Department HTK Series on April 20, 2026 for a conversation featuring Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), to discuss the most consequential issues defining the future of U.S. strategic forces. Register and watch live here:
Strategic Forces Priorities: A Conversation with Senator Deb Fischer | CSIS Events
For the first time, the CSIS Defense and Security Department’s HTK Series welcomes a featured guest, Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE), to discuss the most consequential issues defining the future of U.S.…
csis.org
As the U.S. and Iran agree to a two-week ceasefire agreement the options for ending this war are timelier than ever. PONI experts Heather Williams and Joseph Rodgers explore the difficult choices facing the U.S. in addressing Iran’s nuclear program. Full analysis here
Options for the United States to Resolve the Iran Nuclear Challenge
The nuclear issue is likely to determine not only when the war ends, but also how it ends, and who can claim “victory.” Per Trump’s speech, there are at least three nuclear off-ramps to help the…
csis.org