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
Bader, Jeffrey and Jonathan D. Pollack. "Time to Restrict the President’s Power to Wage Nuclear War." New York Times. September 12, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/12/opinion/time-to-restrict-the-presidents-power-to-wage-nuclear-war.html.
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.
Burns, Robert and Richard Lardner. " Retired US general says nuclear launch order can be refused." AP News. November 14, 2017. https://www.apnews.com/14eb66de62fc49b181680ccbd7394646.
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.
Colangelo, Anthony J. "The Duty to Disobey Illegal Nuclear Strike Orders." SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 368. Harvard National Security Journal 9 (August 2018): https://ssrn.com/abstract=3048979.
Congressional Research Service. Authority to order the use of nuclear weapons (United States, United Kingdom, France, Soviet Union, People's Republic of China). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 1975. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003216700/Home.
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.
Graff, Garrett M. "The Madman and the Bomb." Politico. August 11, 2017. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/11/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-richard-nixon-215478.
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.
Lanouette, William. "Civilian Control Of Nuclear Weapons." Arms Control Today 39, no. 4 (May 2009): 45-48. https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2009_5/Lanouette.
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.
Tamkin, Emily. "Lawmakers Introduce Bill Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons." Foreign Policy. January 24, 2017. https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/01/24/senator-and-congressman-introduce-restricting-first-use-of-nuclear-weapons-act-trump/?utm_campaign=New+Campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_term=%2AEditors+Picks.
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.