James Acton on Nuclear Targeting and Escalation

Security Dilemma

This week on Security Dilemma, Patrick Carver Fox and John Allen Gay spoke with Dr. James Acton, co-director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Nuclear Policy Program.

Dr. Acton has a PhD in theoretical physics from Cambridge and he’s testified to the House Armed Services Committee, House Appropriations Committee and US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He’s an expert in hypersonic weapons and he’s currently writing a book on the nuclear escalation risks of advanced non-nuclear weapons.

Our conversation touches on the nuclear escalation risks of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the state of U.S. nuclear targeting policy, the role of the "three body problem" on nuclear proliferation in a multipolar world and proliferation risks with American allies. Dr. Acton's essay on counterforce

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