🇺🇸 As Trump orders Pentagon to test nukes ‘on par’ with Russia & China, @doreenhorschig.bsky.social notes: “The U.S. would gain little technical advantage from nuclear testing - it wouldn’t be to verify capability but to signal resolve to adversaries". Read her Paper ⤵️ 🔗 www.ifri.org/en/papers/fr...

FWIW it's not in US interest to normalize nuclear testing. We have the data we need from many earlier tests, but China doesn't, so China has the potential to gain much more than we do from resumption of testing. But I suspect POTUS was referencing testing *delivery vehicles* anyway-- not warheads.

1. Russia has a slightly bigger stockpile than the U.S. 2. No one has tested nukes aboveground since 1980. 3. Since 1998 only N. Korea has tested nukes (underground). 4. Obama launched the renovation of the U.S. stockpile. It's not complete; timeline stretches into the 2040s ($ is headed for $2T).

Hoover Senior Fellow Sumit Ganguly & MTA Stanton Fellow @spenserawarren.bsky.social note: India’s Air Force shone in Kargil ’99 but stumbled in Pahalgam ’25. Lesson? Strike early on military targets—despite higher risk—to stay ahead www.belfercenter.org/research-ana...

What a way to make the APEC summit in Korea next month awkward for the 🇺🇸 president.

Melissa Hortman practiced politics the right way.

As I suspected, Nepal's army is now in-charge: www.msn.com/en-us/news/w...

Nuclear weapons and Spartan football expert here: Yes he does.

This might be the best sports prediction I've ever made.

D3 ADRIAN TAKES DOWN FCS VALPO 10-7!!! BEVEL EM

What a win for Aidan Chiles and Michigan State. We just watched a young QB grow up in front of our eyes.

D3 Adrian has a second half lead against FCS Valpo 👀

I am constantly saying this but one thing to know is that Vance’s comms team is run by very young, very online and very far right guys. They were a big part of having him push the Haitians cats and dogs thing.

As a DC resident I feel like I should say: This is a complete and utter lie. My kid, under age 12, walked to school last year into an area close to downtown. Telling the truth is an important thing.

1/6 Paul Bacon and I have a new paper out in The Pacific Review. We tackled a puzzle: how do you analyze something like the "Indo-Pacific" using Regional Security Complex Theory when it's way too big to be a normal region? 🧩 www.tandfonline.com/eprint/NYX5Q...

There’s no longer any pretense this has anything to do with crime (there are cities or parts of cities in SC and Ohio that have higher crime rates than DC — send the troops there!). This is about establishing a precedent for Trump seizing control of the nation’s capital when he wants to.

Documents with sensitive details about the meeting between President Trump and Russian President Putin were left behind on a public hotel printer.

August 6 and 9 mark the 80th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. I wrote for @us.theconversation.com about their influence in crafting the nuclear nonproliferation regime and on the perils of retreating from their memories. theconversation.com/the-treaty-m...

I believe one of the new mRNA vaccines was expected to treat colon cancer, and another had the potential to keep pancreatic cancer from recurring. That’s what they’re taking away.

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Wanted to catch the Nats before leaving DC, so I bought tickets to the cheapest game I could find, tonight against the A's. I wanted to see the Red Sox at Fenway next month, but all of the games were $50+... except the A's at $22. So guess who's following the A's around the East Coast?

Implications of IRBM forward deployment aside, VP is playing fast and loose with the definition of "Hypersonic Weapon" again. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2025/08/...

The idea of moving US ballistic missile submarines around for signaling purposes is not exactly new. Just a year ago, in July 2024, a perfectly Nuclear Submarine USS Tennessee made a very visible visit to the Norwegian Sea (link below) 1/

In a new blog post for @ucigcc.bsky.social, I summarize my recent articles in Parameters and Comparative Strategy on Russian novel nuclear weapons and their impacts on regional warfighting and strategic nuclear deterrence. ucigcc.org/blog/what-ne...

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

The first rule of homelessness policy is that it must be cruel. The second rule is that it must be expensive. The current GOP idea is to move from "spend a lot so cops, paramedics, and ERs can shuffle them around" to "spend a lot to put them in jail." God forbid we just provide basic shelter.

New article from John C. Stanko in Political Communication bridging IR and CP explores how populist autocrats use international status recognition to improve legitimacy at home. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hey guys, my name is Tabea and I’m a historian. My research interests include #PublicHistory and #DigitalHumanities. Let's talk about this study and why it is complete nonsense for historians. #Skystorians #SciCom #Science ⬇️

Great new article by my grad school friend Dima Kortukov on the Russo-Ukrainian War in ISR. Excellent work bridging IR and CP. academic.oup.com/isr/article/...

My latest article in Comparative Strategy examining how Russia's novel nuclear weapons will impact strategic nuclear deterrence between the United States and Russia is now available online. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I'm saddened to think of the long string of consequences that will result from President Trump's decision to let Prime Minister Netanyahu drag the United States into war with Iran. A great deal of unnecessary human suffering will result -- and a stronger Iranian determination to get a nuclear bomb.

In a more serious country, unilaterally withdrawing from the JCPOA would have immediately ended Trump's first presidency & destroyed the GOP's reputation on national security policy for a generation 🧐

I’m very confident that just as Trump had no idea a couple days ago what he’d be doing today that he has no idea what he and we will be doing a few days from now.

Trump just attacked Iran. A few immediate reactions. First off, as a U.S citizen, I'm simply appalled by Trump's refusal to seek Congressional authorization in violation of law and the constitution. Just because it's not surprising doesn't make it any less dreadful. (1/n)

Natural earthquakes and nuke tests look very different on seismographs and historically, CTBTO has been very quick to report on any "unusual seismic activity"

Africa is grappling with the effects of decades of rising debt, and Russia is swooping in to strengthen its hand at the expense of the U.S. William Decourt and Spenser Warren discuss the battle for influence in Africa and the high geopolitical stakes: ucigcc.org/blog/russia-...

We're possibly about to get some interesting new empirics on the viability of 21st century mobile missile launcher hunting.* * I'd still think the IRGC-AF is operating sub-optimally given the C3 degradation.

👋 Hello, we're the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)! We are very happy to join @bsky.app, and thrilled to announce that our website, www.usip.org, is back online! We look forward connecting here and bringing you useful content, resources and opportunities for peacebuilders around the world.

My colleague Assaf Zoran's assessment a year ago of the high risks and limited benefits of an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities remains valid. thebulletin.org/2024/04/the-...

I told you we’d be back

Today is the feast day of Frances Perkins in the Episcopal church. She is a founding mother of Social Security, unemployment insurance, workplace & fire safety standards & much more. She's an inspiration to me both professionally & personally. 🧵 francesperkinscenter.org/2018/01/17/f...

#NEW commentary published today from @heatherwilly.bsky.social and Niko Adamopoulos "Now is the time for states to develop off-ramps—like crisis communications, third party mediation, and narrative manipulation." Read the full analysis here: www.csis.org/analysis/we-...

Huh. (Unnamed) USA officials saying Pakistan used PRC made J-10 jets to shoot down at least 2 Indian jets… …w/one saying that at least one French made Rafaele jet was shot down (would be first shot down in combat). www.reuters.com/world/pakist... India has not confirmed any aircraft lost.

US played an important role, even if not public, in de-escalating 1999 and 2008 crises. Whether they invite it or not, both India and Pakistan factor US diplomacy in their strategies

Europe will likely remain a theater of instability despite pressure for peace in Ukraine. As the U.S. shifts to the Indo-Pacific & Russia continues pursuing territorial ambitions, how will arms control look after the war in Ukraine? More from @poni.csis.org ⤵️

Gov. DeWine just signed SB1, a law ending “DEI” in Ohio public higher ed. Now that it’s law, U of Toledo just killed the following BA programs: • Africana Studies • Asian Studies • Disability Studies • Middle East Studies • Philosophy • Religious Studies • Women's/Gender Studies And… • Spanish

This is where we are headed. If you don’t believe me, ask what basis the government had to send me and my family to a prison camp in Arkansas. We “looked like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor.”

Some New Mexico work travel.