Five Nuclear Must-Reads for the New Year

As 2017 begins, with it comes a new set of leaders – in the administration
and in Congress – who will set nuclear policy for the United States and influence
nuclear policies worldwide. How issues such as nuclear modernization, cyber
security and arms control will play out over the next four years remains to be
seen, but nuclear issues made headlines a number of times over the holidays as
journalists and experts debated the meaning and intent of President-elect Trump’s
tweets and North Korea raised new concerns about its nuclear ambitions.

Below are our five must-read reports and articles,
highlighting the key issues that are sure to continue to make headlines in 2017.

U.S.-Russia
Relations 

Arguably the biggest topic of the last three months has been the current and
future trajectory of U.S.-Russia relations. Relations between the world’s
largest nuclear powers have reached a low-water mark over issues ranging from Syria
and Ukraine to cyber hacking, and NATO. President-elect Trump has signaled an
interest in rebuilding relations between the countries. NTI’s Robert Berls Jr.
and Leon Ratz
released a
report recommending key steps for the next administration to lower the
risks of nuclear accidents or miscalculation. The report has a foreword by Des Browne, Wolfgang
Ischinger, Igor Ivanov and Sam Nunn.

Beating
the Cyber Threat to Nuclear Infrastructure

From Stuxnet to Fancy Bear, cyber-attacks and hacking have
become a new normal. Alexandra
Van Dine, Page Stoutland
and Michael Assante published an in-depth report on steps states, industry and
international organizations can take to protect nuclear facilities from this
ever-evolving threat.

Take
a Peak under the Mountain

As the year came to a close, North Korea raised new concerns
about its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. NTI has collected our
comprehensive North Korea resources, including our North Korea Nuclear
Year-in-Review, featuring a 3D model of the country’s underground nuclear
testing facility.

Planes,
Subs, and ICBM’s

In the early days of the transition, Samantha
Pitts-Kiefer wrote a thorough rundown of the nuclear-related challenges
ahead for the incoming Trump Administration and the new Congress. From nuclear
modernization and the bow-wave to nonproliferation and prompt-launch status, the
new president, his Cabinet and Congress will face a host of important decisions
that will shape the future of U.S. and global nuclear policy.

Ten
Big Nuclear Ideas for the Next President

NTI’s Steve
Andreasen and Isabelle
Williams joined leading national security experts in offering a series of
big ideas for the incoming administration to reduce nuclear risks. Andreasen
and Williams particularly highlighted the growing threat posed by U.S. tactical
nuclear weapons in Europe. Others called for unilateral nuclear reductions and
the phasing out of ICBMs.