☢️ 1/3 What makes a weapon too horrific to use? Our researcher @laurensukin.bsky.social & her colleagues
David Allison & @herzogsm.bsky.social fielded a survey experiment on a U.S. sample, investigating public support for use of different weapon types. Open access: academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-...

Civilian nuclear technology transfers as nonproliferation leverage: a reexamination of South Korea’s nuclear-weapons program This article draws on archival material, including recently declassified government documents, to examine the 1975–76 US effort to persuade South Korea to end its nuclear-weapons program. Contrary ...

In our new issue, an #OpenAccess article by Robert Reardon analyzes U.S. efforts during the Cold War to persuade South Korea to end its nuclear weapons program. It's based on archival material, including recently declassified government documents.

doi.org/10.1080/1073...

DPIR's Lauren Sukin has co-authored a new paper in the Journal of Peace Research in which she argues that people judge military strikes less by outcomes and more by the type of weapon used: academic.oup.com/jpr/advance-article/doi/...

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IR research on so-called “taboo” weapons often focuses on individual systems or very limited comparisons. In new @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social work w/Dave Allison and @laurensukin.bsky.social, we compare aversions across a broader range of weapons (6).

#OpenAccess: doi.org/10.1093/jopr...

Our new (open access) paper investigates weapons aversion across systems. We comprehensively compare attitudes about the use of cyber, conventional, cluster, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, showing a clear preference hierarchy and lending insight into the underlying causes of aversion.

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The preference hierarchy is clear: respondents preferred cyber operations over conventional strikes, conventional strikes over cluster munitions, cluster munitions over chemical and biological weapons, and all of those over nuclear weapons.

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We find that casualties matter most to U.S. respondents, and mission effectiveness matters too. But respondents also rely on powerful heuristics about weapon type, even when other strike characteristics are held constant. This can lead to surprising tradeoffs in public support.

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We use a conjoint survey experiment, varying weapon type, expected civilian casualties, and operational effectiveness. That lets us isolate the independent effect of each on support for military strikes.

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IR research on so-called “taboo” weapons often focuses on individual systems or very limited comparisons. In new @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social work w/Dave Allison and @laurensukin.bsky.social, we compare aversions across a broader range of weapons (6).

#OpenAccess: doi.org/10.1093/jopr...

So, I spent many many years working on my book, and it coincidentally comes out the same week as the end of the New START Treaty.  In print from Cambridge University Press next week, and ebook is online now. www.cambridge.org/vaynman or on Amazon: a.co/d/0brNOTKq

The Iran conflict edges the world closer to a new drone arms race The Iran war shows that lethal long-range drones are rapidly becoming the newest frontier in an ongoing arms race.

"The trajectory of drone innovation coming from Iran and Russia shows that low-cost attack drones can be built from commercially available components that circulate with few effective export restrictions."

"Drone innovation may save money; drone regulation can save lives."

In an #OpenAccess article in our latest issue, Justin Hastings uses UN data to map regional trade networks for nuclear materials and dual-use equipment in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Link: doi.org/10.1080/1073...

Piece w/ @laurensukin.bsky.social & @lanoszka.bsky.social out in Apr. 2026 issue of Journal of Conflict Resolution. We surveyed publics in 24 countries in 2023: Calibrated US restraint/support for Kyiv was reassuring. Strong resolve isn't the only thing that can reassure.

doi.org/10.1177/0022...

The Nonproliferation Review Volume 32, Issue 4-6 of The Nonproliferation Review

New issue published today!

Check out a special section on nuclear networks, alongside articles on civilian nuclear tech transfers as nonproliferation leverage, behavioral arms control, BWC CBMs, and U.S. debates over nuclear counterforce targeting.

www.tandfonline.com/toc/rnpr20/3...

Piece w/ @laurensukin.bsky.social & @lanoszka.bsky.social out in Apr. 2026 issue of Journal of Conflict Resolution. We surveyed publics in 24 countries in 2023: Calibrated US restraint/support for Kyiv was reassuring. Strong resolve isn't the only thing that can reassure.

doi.org/10.1177/0022...

The Nonproliferation Review Beyond Nuclear Deterrence - Special Issue 1. Volume 31, Issue 4-6 of The Nonproliferation Review

We recently published 2 special issues featuring work from the Beyond Nuclear Deterrence Working Group @managingtheatom.bsky.social. You can read both collections, with many #OpenAccess articles.

Special Issue 1: tandfonline.com/toc/rnpr20/3...

Special Issue 2: tandfonline.com/toc/rnpr20/3...

Somebody shoot that god damn dove before it triggers a global thermonuclear war!

Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail A sobering edited volume on how efforts to reduce nuclear weapons dangers may sometimes wind up exacerbating them.The existential risks posed to the world

A free book about bad decisions involving nuclear weapons. What's not to like?

Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edi...

Thanks to @herzogsm.bsky.social and the other editors for providing open access at @mitpress.bsky.social

Why do so many countries not participate in Biological Weapons Convention CBMs? Sharma & Hobson analyze CBM submissions & 51 working papers/statements. They identify capacity gaps & system design as obstacles & propose reforms.

New #OpenAccess in the NPR: doi.org/10.1080/1073...

Nuclear Belarus: explaining Russian security guarantees In 2022, Russia announced its plans to deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, which would mark the first such deployment in an allied state since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Deploying nuclear weapons ...

In our newest issue of the NPR, @alexsorg.bsky.social of @managingtheatom.bsky.social has written an article looking into Russian security guarantees to Belarus.

Check it out here: doi.org/10.1080/1073...

The fall of Qaddafi and its contribution to shaping Russia’s strategic outlook and policy on nuclear nonproliferation Vladimir Putin and other influential Russian figures portrayed Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi’s relinquishment of his nuclear program as a strategic error: they often declared that the decision f...

Russia’s takeaway from Libya was stark: Qaddafi gave up his nuclear weapons program and still fell. In our newest issue, Norman Cigar traces how that lesson shaped Putin’s strategic culture and Russia’s approach to nuclear nonproliferation.

doi.org/10.1080/1073...

The Nonproliferation Review Publishes research on nonproliferation studies, including issues of state-run weapons programs and economic and environmental effects of weapon proliferation.&n

We are excited to join the BlueSky community and will soon be posting updates about our articles on WMD!

As always, we are looking forward to your submissions. Check us out online: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rnp...

In a new article, CISAC affiliates Lauren Sukin and J. Luis Rodriguez, along with colleague Stephen Herzog, challenge the idea that nuclear deterrence and disarmament are opposites, drawing on new global survey data from 24 countries.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Atomic Backfires The existential risks posed to the world by nuclear weapons are growing. Efforts to halt nuclear proliferation, manage crises, promote arms control, and buil...

Was a pleasure yesterday to help introduce the terrific new book on unintended negative consequences of counterproliferation, alliance, and arms control policies with editors Stephen Herzog, Ariel Petrovics, and David Giles Arceneaux. The e-book is open access.
mitpress.mit.edu/978026205185...

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As the Trump administration’s “What about China?” nuclear arms control agenda for a New START follow-on unfolds, here’s a 2020 throwback. @thebulletin.org

Link here: doi.org/10.1080/0096...

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While a new legally-binding agreement would be ideal, policymakers and scholars should probably be thinking about how the next generation of arms control can be successful without the same legal status of a treaty.

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This represents the new era of U.S. domestic political polarization on nuclear arms control and has long-term potential to undermine all bilateral initiatives with Russia. A future arms control-minded president will likely struggle to get Senate approval for a formal treaty.

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“What about China?” is here to stay. This is likely not a Trump-only phenomenon, but a durable feature of U.S. domestic politics around nuclear arms control.

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As the Trump administration’s “What about China?” nuclear arms control agenda for a New START follow-on unfolds, here’s a 2020 throwback. @thebulletin.org

Link here: doi.org/10.1080/0096...

Are deterrence and disarmament compatible?

In a new paper with @jluisrodriguez.com & @herzogsm.bsky.social, we question the common deterrence-disarmament divide.

With a survey of nuclear attitudes, we show publics around the world simultaneously support both policies.

tinyurl.com/5cbf76cx