Even if they somehow manage to build a missile shield that works reliably and is affordable—which is extremely unlikely on both counts based on more than 50 years of unfulfilled promises, but bear with me—we’d still be highly vulnerable if they push vital software updates during a crisis or attack.
I’ll be thinking of you today, AJ! I’m sorry today’s particularly rough. Just prayed for you to feel peace today.
Very happy to see my new paper out - on regulation of military AI, the war in Ukraine, and the particular role of NATO. Thanks to Ulrich Kuhn @ifshhamburg.bsky.social and @heatherwilly.bsky.social for having me as a part of their SI in Journal of Strategic Studies www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
I’m looking forward to reading this:
Thank you @llkoch.bsky.social for sharing your research with us on nuclear threats.
In our latest Wednesday Seminar, Lisa asks, “When leaders issue nuclear threats, how are those threats perceived?” She continues to talk about the spectrum of credibility on which these threats may fall and...
Launch day! My new book “Under the Nuclear Shadow” about China’s approach to strategic deterrence and information-age weapons is officially out with @princetonupress.bsky.social ! To read more about it and order it, see press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Yes—decades went by, the predictions of a world filled with nuclear-armed states didn’t come true, and now we all try to explain why
I just found this great starter pack. Thanks! Could you please add me?
Bandersnatchi 😂
Ha! It’s finally time to bust this out:
Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Ooh thanks—just followed all!
Also I learned its scientific name means gloomy, shapeless thing
In sum: your salamanders are super cool
. . . The jaw muscles are hypertrophied, the skull is heavily ossified with especially strong jaws, and juveniles as well as adults possess enlarged and flattened, blade-like, monocuspid teeth . . .”
Jon (hi!!), I was totally intrigued and turned to amphibiaweb.org for more. I think you should prepare yourself:
“The arboreal salamander is well known for its aggressive tendencies and weaponry. This species has a suite of morphological features that enable a strong, wound inflicting bite. . .
Figure 74. Don't spread rumors. Under the title "Kill The Rumors" are six cartoons showing an anthropomorphized atomic bomb sleeping soundly and dreaming of the Earth being blown apart ("Atomic weapons will not destroy the Earth!"), easily lifting an 800-pound weight as a "double A-bomb" struggles to lift a 1,000-pound weight ("Doubling bomb power does not double destruction"), zapping a soldier hiding underground with a raygun ("Radioactivity is not greatest threat"), and zapping a soldier with deadly-looking rays emanating from its fingers à la Emperor Palpatine as another lies on the ground looking dizzy and a third punches back at the rays ("Radiation sickness is rarely fatal"). Figure 75. Kill the rumors. Under the title "Know the facts," is a cartoon drawing of man in a suit and tie standing in front of a large home with a nice front lawn with his wife and children—five boys of varying ages who all look identical, a girl who looks like her mother, and three infants in a baby carriage. A speech bubble from the man reads, "My children like to hear about the time their father was exposed to radiation," which together with the drawing strongly implies that radiation exposure will actually make men extremely potent and virile. The caption reads, "Exposure to radiation does not cause sterility or impotency."
These are illustrations from a 1953 US Army field manual for soldiers designed to indoctrinate them that nuclear weapons were not that destructive or dangerous and that radiation exposure in particular was no big deal (and maybe even beneficial).
On the anniversary of Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace speech, I highly recommend reading this excellent, recent special issue of the Journal of Cold War Studies.
muse.jhu.edu/issue/51175
(My H-Diplo review of the issue is at issforum.org/reviews/PDF/...)
I didn’t know this had been changed! Now feeling bad about my “only as an adjective, not as a noun” comments on this semester’s student papers
Starter Pack for Nuclear Weapons History and Politics. Most of these folks are within the broader #NukeSky world.
If I've missed you, please let me know if you would like to be added or suggest anyone else who should be on this!
👉 go.bsky.app/KDiibQK
I’d like to be added! Great idea!
Glad to be in touch over here! It’s so nice to see so many familiar faces.
Thank you, Victor!
Delighted to see this officially in print. Placing blame with the citizens of the enemy country plays an interesting role in support for a severe military response.
#polisky
Thinking about fictional movie character Gen. Jack D. Ripper for absolutely no reason today
Great thread on the multiple failures that could have led to disaster on the infamous Saturday that marked the height of the Cuban missile crisis:
The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded, “for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again,” to the Hibakusha: the survivors of the two atomic bomb attacks of 1945.
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...
No problem!
For books, I have two to suggest:
Iraq: Braut-Hegghammer, Unclear Physics (2016)
Sweden: Jonter, The Key to Nuclear Restraint (2016)
Nuclear Decisions was featured in Books of Note, in the July/Aug issue of Arms Control Today. As a longtime reader of this journal, I am absolutely delighted. @armscontrolnow.bsky.social
#polisky #nukesky
Thanks, Haleema!