Renewal: From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives, Work, and Politics
Speaker(s): Slaughter, A. (New America) Date: 14 December 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a speaker session with Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter (CEO, New America) as part of its SMA General Speaker Series. Dr. Slaughter commented that a country that truly allows its citizens to take risks and be entrepreneurial should also provide enough support for them […]
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The Shape of the Future Operating Environment: How Our Adversaries Have Learned to Stop Worrying and Ignore the Bomb
Author: Bragg, B. (NSI) Video Preview In July of this year, at the request of USSTRATCOM, SMA initiated an effort to address eight questions regarding the implications of the increasing numbers, and expanding capabilities, of US nuclear adversaries. This report addresses two of those questions: [Q2] What are US competitors (Russia, China, Iran, DPRK) doing […]
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SMA 21st Century Strategic Challenges
Author: Astorino-Courtois, A. (NSI) Question of Focus [Q1] Does deterrence theory change if the US faces two nuclear-armed, near-peer competitors? If so, how? What are the impacts to strategy? If not, what impacts to strategy still exist in that scenario? What are the implications for US strategic defense, escalation control options, and the deterrent value […]
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Information Warfare and the New Threat Environment
Speakers: Elisabeth Braw (American Enterprise Institute (AEI)); James Farwell (The Farwell Group); Dr. Christopher Paul (RAND) Date: 8 December 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a panel discussion with Dr. Christopher Paul (RAND), Mr. James P. Farwell (The Farwell Group), and Ms. Elisabeth Braw (American Enterprise Institute (AEI)) as part of its SMA INSS/PRISM Speaker Series. Information […]
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Guide to Analytic Techniques for Nuclear Strategy Analysis
Authors | Editors: Bragg. B (NSI, Inc.); Popp, G. (NSI, Inc.); Astorino-Courtois, A. (NSI, Inc.) Question of Focus [Q8] What are key analytic approaches that USSTRATCOM planners might use to assess competitors’ behaviors, intentions, and capabilities holistically, including common and divergent national interests? Which are most appropriate for identifying the interrelationships among US and competitor […]
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China’s Historical Plutonium Production
Authors | Editors: Swegle, J. (National Strategic Research Institute); Yeaw, C. (National Strategic Research Institute) Publication Preview In this paper, we reevaluate China’s production of weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) in order to estimate the maximum number of nuclear weapons using WGPu that China could build.† This WGPu was produced in the 801 Reactor at the 404 […]
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Modeling Risk of Strategic Deterrence Failure
Author(s): Elder, R. (George Mason University) Publication Preview George Mason University (GMU) worked with Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to model risk of strategic deterrence failure, identify potential indicators and factors the U.S. and its partners can influence, and explain this risk to members of Congress and other organizations in a position […]
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The Challenge of Russia’s Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons: Western Air Supremacy as One Russian Justification for NSNW
Author(s): Boone, R. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska); Rehbein, D. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska); Swegle, J. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska); Yeaw, C. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska) Publication Preview Significant and enduring US/NATO advantages in aircraft and precision-guided munitions drives the Russian need for a […]
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The Escalatory Attraction of Limited Nuclear Employment For Great Power Competitors of the United States
Author(s): Yeaw, C. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska) Publication Preview The United States has entered into a dangerously new era in which, for the first time in our nation’s history, we now face two nuclear-armed great power competitors. Over the past three decades, while the United States has been focused on a variety […]
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Challenges to 21st Century Deterrence (Part II)
Speaker(s): Elder, R. (George Mason University); Siebens, J. (Defense Strategy & Planning Program, Stimson Center); Yeaw, C. (National Strategic Research Institute, University of Nebraska) Date: 9 December 2021 Speaker Session Summary SMA hosted a panel discussion with Lt Gen (Ret) Robert Elder, PhD (George Mason University), Mr. James A. Siebens (Defense Strategy & Planning Program, […]
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