Special Reports are longer, often more technical, documents consisting of entire articles, government statements, and other documents relevant to security and peace in Northeast Asia.
NAPSNet, Special Reports
US STRATEGIC COMMAND ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS & LAWS OF ARMED CONFLICT
PETER HAYES FEBRUARY 22 2026 I. INTRODUCTION This special report written and edited by Peter Hayes summarizes and provides copies of 10 documents released under the US Freedom of Information Act on legal guidance on STRATCOM’s compliance with the laws of armed conflict in relation to nuclear weapons. Peter Hayes is Director of the Nautilus […]
Go to the articleTHE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY’S GORDIAN KNOT: THE INTRACTABLE PROBLEM OF THE LEGALITY OF NUCLEAR SHARING
ANNA HOOD FEBRUARY 20 2026 I. INTRODUCTION Anna Hood analyses whether Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) permit nuclear sharing. She argues—contrary to previous research—that the ordinary meaning of Articles I and II, the NPT’s travaux préparatoires and subsequent agreements and practice point to a deep ambiguity as to whether nuclear […]
Go to the articleESCALATION DYNAMICS UNDER THE NUCLEAR SHADOW—INDIA’S APPROACH
RAKESH SOOD FEBRUARY 10, 2026s I. INTRODUCTION Rakesh Sood concludes that “While nuclear weapons will induce restraint and neither country is likely to engage in an all-out war to change the territorial status quo, the likelihood of cross-border terrorist attacks followed by kinetic retaliation and consequent escalation cannot be ruled out…Since the doctrines and the […]
Go to the articleA QUARTER CENTURY OF NUCLEAR SOUTH ASIA: NUCLEAR NOISE, SIGNALLING, AND THE RISK OF ESCALATION IN INDIA-PAKISTAN CRISES
MOEED YUSUF AND RIZWAN ZEB FEBRUARY 3 2026 I. INTRODUCTION Moeed Yusuf and Rizwan Zeb examine the trilateral dynamic in five South Asian nuclear crises whereby the United States played a mediatory role leading to crisis termination. “The only smart policy,” they aver, “is one that ensures crisis prevention. This points to the need for […]
Go to the article‘ALL OPTIONS ARE ON THE TABLE’: ASSESSING THE INTERNATIONAL LEGALITY OF NUCLEAR THREATS
MONIQUE CORMIER AND ANNA HOOD JANUARY 27 2026 I. INTRODUCTION Monique Cormier and Anna Hood canvas a range of international instruments that prohibit nuclear threats and explore the extent to which they apply to threats to use nuclear weapons that nuclear armed states have issued over time. They conclude that the existing rules are piecemeal, […]
Go to the articleHOW TO ASSESS NUCLEAR ‘THREATS’ IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
GEORGE PERKOVICH JANUARY 20 2026 I. INTRODUCTION George Perkovich argues that ‘nuclear threat’ needs to be defined with more care and nuance to enable decision makers to distinguish serious nuclear threats that demand a countervailing action from nuclear threats that are mere noise or allusion aiming to manipulate nuclear anxiety but do not pose a […]
Go to the articleB-52S IN AUSTRALIA IN 1979-1991 AND THE NUCLEAR HETERODOXY OF MALCOLM FRASER
VINCE SCAPPATURA AND RICHARD TANTER AUGUST 4, 2025 I. INTRODUCTION Vince Scappatura and Richard Tanter use previously unreported declassified CINCPAC Command Histories and Australian cabinet papers to examine the decisions by the Australian government under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in the early 1980s to allow the deployment of USAF B-52 Stratofortress bombers. The authors situate both Australian […]
Go to the articleWHERE WOULD WE BE WITH NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITHOUT INTERNATIONAL LAW?
WILLIAM BOOTHBY AND WOLFF HEINTSCHEL VON HEINEGG MAY 26 2025 I. INTRODUCTION In this essay, William Boothby and Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg explain that The Law on Nuclear Weapons: An International Commentary (Elgar, 2025) aims “to ensure that all those involved in nuclear weapon operations understand what their responsibilities are under international law. By this […]
Go to the articleB-2 BOMBER STRIKES IN YEMEN AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR AUSTRALIA
NOVEMBER 10 2024 VINCE SCAPPATURA I. INTRODUCTION Vince Scappatura documents the novel use of Australian territory in supporting US B-2 bombers en route and in return from strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on October 17, and highlights the profound strategic significance of this event for the future role Australia may play in US strategic […]
Go to the articleNUCLEAR-CAPABLE B-52H STRATOFORTRESS BOMBERS: A VISUAL GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION
VINCE SCAPPATURA AND RICHARD TANTER AUGUST 26 2024 I. INTRODUCTION Vince Scappatura and Richard Tanter use open-source information to identify US B-52 bombers that are nuclear weapons capable and may visit or be stationed at foreign airfields versus B-52s that are solely able to be armed with conventional, non-nuclear weapons. Where governments, as in […]
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