Special Reports

VINCE SCAPPATURA AND RICHARD TANTER APRIL 19, 2026 I. INTRODUCTION Vince Scappatura and Richard Tanter examine the relationship between Australia’s deepening position in relation to United States nuclear weapons and strains in government legitimation practices. Australia’s involvement in U.S. nuclear weapons operations has deepened from longstanding reliance on extended deterrence and the hosting of major U.S. […]

PETER HAYES MARCH 25 2026 I.  INTRODUCTION Peter Hayes argues that the methods revealed in USSTRATCOM SI 526-01 for estimating the reliability of US command and control procedures and of weapons systems in delivering nuclear weapons to targets may instill false confidence in US nuclear commanders that nuclear strikes will be achieved as planned and […]

EMILY CRAWFORD MARCH 16 2026 I.  INTRODUCTION Emily Crawford argues that nuclear command, control and communications (NC3) systems are beset by vulnerabilities, including susceptibility to cyber and other remote attacks, as well as weaknesses due to obsolete legacy technologies and complex command and communication structures.”  She concludes: “For NC3 systems to effectively and accurately fulfil […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]