Staying the Course on Nuclear Modernization

By Thomas Karako

Thomas Karako is a senior fellow with the International Security Program and the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is also a fellow with the Institute for Politics and Strategy of Carnegie Mellon University. Karako worked with the professional staff of the House Armed Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces as an American Political Science Association congressional fellow from 2010-2011.

This year, the Donald J. Trump administration will review the state of U.S. nuclear forces, the nation’s nuclear policy and posture, and how it fits the current and emerging strategic environment. With that review comes an opportunity to communicate to friends and adversaries alike that deterrence has returned to the top of the U.S. nuclear agenda. Communicating that priority should begin with the reaffirmation of commitment to modernizing the nuclear triad, as essential now for 21st century deterrence as it has ever been.

Nuclear deterrence is the foundation of U.S. security. Last fall, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter described it as “the highest priority mission of the Department of Defense.” Eight former commanders of U.S. Strategic Command have recently affirmed that “there is no higher national security priority than deterring the actual or coercive use of nuclear weapons against us and our allies.”

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

Access all of The Cipher Brief’s national security-focused expert insight by becoming a Cipher Brief Subscriber+ Member.

Subscriber+


Related Articles

How Safe Would We Be Without Section 702?

SUBSCRIBER+EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW — A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has generated controversy around fears of the potential for abuse has proven to be crucial […] More

Search

Close