The Topic Explorer uses the same search and topic filters for all of the different resources on this site. It is meant to allow easy cross-examination of different issues.
Topics
Primers
- Nuclear launch process: The nuclear launch process of the United States is a topic of high interest and importance but is also subject to considerable misunderstanding.
- Presidential unilateral nuclear use authority under Truman: In the United States, the authority to use nuclear weapons is vested in the President of the United States.
Documents
Bibliographies
Beres, Louis René. "What if you don’t trust the judgment of the president whose finger is over the nuclear button?" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. August 23, 2016. https://thebulletin.org/2016/08/what-if-you-dont-trust-the-judgment-of-the-president-whose-finger-is-over-the-nuclear-button/.
Blair, Bruce G. "Strengthening Checks on Presidential Nuclear Launch Authority." Arms Control Today 48, no. 1 (Jan/Feb 2018). https://www.armscontrol.org/sites/default/files/files/ACT/ACT_JanFeb18_Blair_Prepublication.pdf.
Burr, William. "Consultation is Presidential Business": Secret Understandings on the Use of Nuclear Weapons, 1950-1974. Electronic Briefing Book No. 159. Washington, D.C.: National Security Archive, 2005. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB159/.
Burr, William. Presidential Control of Nuclear Weapons: The "Football." Briefing Book #632. Washington, D.C.: National Security Archive, 2018. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/nuclear-vault/2018-07-09/presidential-control-nuclear-weapons-football.
Conley, Jerome M. "Nuclear Command and Control in the Twenty-First Century: Trends, Disparities, and the Impact on Stability." In Debating 21st Century Nuclear Issues, edited by Owen Price and Jenifer Mackby, 226-250. Washington, D.C.: Center for International and Strategic Studies, 2007. https://www.csis.org/analysis/debating-21st-century-nuclear-issues.
Demirjian, Karoun. "Trump’s nuclear authority divides senators alarmed by his ‘volatile’ behavior." Washington Post, November 14, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/senators-deadlock-in-debate-over-whether-to-restrain-trumps-nuclear-launch-authority/2017/11/14/491a994a-c95b-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html?utm_term=.5eecae311b16.
Eatinger, Robert. "Riddles of Armageddon: Legal Enigmas of a Nuke Launch Order." The Cipher Brief. January 23, 2018. https://www.thecipherbrief.com/riddles-armageddon-legal-enigmas-nuke-launch-order.
Graff, Garrett M. "The President’s Secret Air Force." Politico. May 2, 2017. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/05/02/the-presidents-secret-air-force-215091.
Grossman, Elaine. "How Putin Might Yank Away Trump’s Control Over America’s Nuclear Weapons." War is Boring. July 3, 2017. https://warisboring.com/how-putin-might-yank-away-trumps-control-over-americas-nuclear-weapons/.
Hering, Harold. "Nukes." Interview with Latif Nasser. Radiolab. Podcast audio, April 7, 2017. https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/nukes.
Johnson, Tim. "Trump’s finger soon will hover over the nuclear button. Will he be ready?" McClatchy DC. November 25, 2016. https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article117054908.html.
Lamothe, Dan. "If Trump wants a nuclear attack against North Korea, his military advisers have few other options." Washington Post. August 10, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/08/10/if-trump-wants-a-nuclear-attack-against-north-korea-his-military-advisers-have-few-other-options/?utm_term=.924fe6b2f5e5#comments.
Lewis, Jeffrey. "Our Nuclear Procedures Are Crazier Than Trump." Foreign Policy. August 5, 2016. https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/05/our-nuclear-procedures-are-crazier-than-trump/.
MacDonald, Eryn. "Whose Finger Is on the Button? Nuclear Launch Authority in the United States and Other Nations." Union of Concerned Scientists. October, 2017. https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/Launch-Authority.pdf.
Mecklin, John. "Duke’s Peter Feaver on the president and US nuclear command and control." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. November 30, 2017. https://thebulletin.org/2017/11/dukes-peter-feaver-on-the-president-and-us-nuclear-command-and-control/.
Rogoway, Tyler. "Pentagon May Replace Its Doomsday Planes And 'Air Force Two' With One New Type." The Drive. June 24, 2017. http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/11207/pentagon-may-replace-its-doomsday-planes-and-air-force-two-with-one-new-type.
Rosenbaum, Ron. "An Unsung Hero of the Nuclear Age: Maj. Harold Hering and the forbidden question that cost him his career." Slate, February 28, 2011. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_spectator/2011/02/an_unsung_hero_of_the_nuclear_age.single.html.
Slocombe, Walter B. Democratic Civilian Control of Nuclear Weapons. Policy Paper no. 12. Geneva: Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF), 2006. https://www.dcaf.ch/sites/default/files/publications/documents/pp12_democratic_civilian_control_nuclear_weapons.pdf.
Wellerstein, Alex. "No one can stop President Trump from using nuclear weapons. That's by design." Washington Post, December 1, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/01/no-one-can-stop-president-trump-from-using-nuclear-weapons-thats-by-design/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.05b5b6a7fe06.
Wellerstein, Alex. "The President and the Bomb." The Nuclear Secrecy Blog. November 18th, 2016. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/11/18/the-president-and-the-bomb/.
Wellerstein, Alex and Avner Cohen. "If Trump wants to use nuclear weapons, whether it’s ‘legal’ won’t matter." Washington Post, November 22, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/11/22/if-trump-wants-to-use-nuclear-weapons-whether-its-legal-wont-matter/?utm_term=.b893af9d38d5.