Nuclear Weapons—Past, Present, and Future

Modern War Institute

John Amble

Government, News

4.7 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 7 March 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For eight decades, the world has navigated the risk of nuclear war. But what will be required to so in the future? And because that risk is not static, how do we measure, conceptualize, and respond to changes—like when Russia rattles its nuclear saber? What challenges do so-called tactical nuclear weapons pose to deterrence models based on much larger, strategic weapons? And what dynamics influence both the creation and erosion of international arms control frameworks that aim to regulate these weapons? This episode tackles those questions and more. It features a discussion with W. J. “Bill” Hennigan, the lead writer for a new series published by the New York Times called “At the Brink.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	What happens if Putin uses a so-called low-yield weapon in Ukraine?
0:12.0	You know, there were people who spent a long time in this business who are really fearful
0:20.0	about the fact that a nuclear weapon may be used on a modern battlefield.
0:23.6	I don't know that everybody really understands that when it comes to nuclear weapons,
0:28.6	we have a nuclear monarchy. Those weapons are essentially the President's weapons.
0:34.6	This is all happening at the same time that nuclear nations are
0:41.7	investing and expanding their nuclear arsenals.
0:46.6	Hey, welcome back to the Modern War Institute podcast. I'm John Ambo, editorial director at MWI,
0:51.8	and this episode features a conversation about nuclear weapons,
0:55.8	which is the focus of a New York Times series that just launched called At the Brink.
1:00.7	The series sets out to explore a range of issues, specifically the risk of nuclear war, how
1:05.6	we have navigated that risk historically, and what will be required to do so in the future.
1:14.7	Now, this is obviously a huge subject with wide-ranging scope.
1:19.3	There is, of course, the science underpinning these weapons, there are policy challenges to consider in questions of strategy, there are important historical and scholarly
1:23.6	perspectives, and there are issues of both international and domestic politics.
1:28.4	This series at the brink brings elements of all of these together.
1:32.2	Its lead writer is W.J. Henigan.
1:35.0	He actually goes by Bill and he joins me on this episode.
1:38.5	Before we get to the discussion, a couple notes.
1:41.2	First, if you're not yet subscribed to the MWI podcast, you can find it on your
1:44.3	favorite podcast app so you don't miss an episode. And second, as always, what you hear in this
1:49.2	episode are the views of the participants and don't represent those of West Point, the army,
	...

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