The threat from long-range nuclear missiles is growing and endangers the lives of millions of Americans, while upsetting regional and global stability. America needs a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system that employs a multilayered defense system of sea, ground, and space-based systems.
Issues 2012 provides candidates for elected office the ability to quickly identify the key issues of the day and present clear policy recommendations, supported by facts, for addressing them. Read More.
A one-hour documentary that tells the story of the very real threat foreign enemies pose to every one of us. No matter where on Earth a missile is launched, it would take 33 minutes or less to hit the U.S. Read More.
This Heritage Foundation research offers policy recommendations that would protect the U.S. and its allies from missiles tipped with nuclear weapons. Read More.
Abstract: In passing the FY 2012 defense authorization and appropriations bills, Congress missed an ideal opportunity to reverse the damage that the Obama Administration inflicted on U.S. missile defense programs in 2010. Congress specifically failed to move the U.S. toward a more defensive nuclear… Read more
It is already clear that the U.S. capabilities necessary for meeting the nation’s global security requirements will not be met if current defense budget policies are left in place. The lack of funding will translate into a U.S. military that might not be able to control the skies, have enough… Read more
Abstract: The U.S. nuclear triad of heavy bombers, intercontinental-range ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) is aging. The nuclear testing moratorium, which has reached nearly two decades, and the required reductions under New START are magnifying questions about the U.S. nuclear arsenal’s reliability. These growing questions will eventually… Read more
Since the end of the Cold War, the Air Force has struggled to maintain standards of excellence when fulfilling one of its most important missions: being prepared to respond to an adversarial nuclear attack. Recently, the Air Force has decided to move away from having one squadron of bombers dedicated… Read more
Abstract: Articulating our values is no act of belligerence and certainly nothing to be sorry for. It’s a duty, one we accept confidently and gratefully, and it’s a President’s duty as well. Over the past 10 years, our… Read more
Iran is rattling sabers. Iraq may be falling apart. In North Korea, one of the world’s most inexperienced and unpredictable leaders has his thumb on the country’s nuclear button. Talks with the Taliban look like an instant replay of the Paris peace negotiations with Hanoi. The Arab Spring has turned… Read more
Section 1228 of the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1540), sponsored by Representative Mo Brooks (R–AL), would impose an absolute ban on sharing sensitive missile defense technology with Russia, including the technology for performing hit-to-kill intercepts of attacking ballistic missiles. On the… Read more
North Korea is developing a road-mobile ICBM, expanding the future threat to the United States beyond the Taepo Dong 2 long-range missile that would be launched from fixed sites. U.S. intelligence information disclosed to Congress last month reportedly identified recent North Korean progress on the mobile missile system, though no… Read more
A Joint Project by Scholars from The Heritage Foundation, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, and the Observer Research Foundation Abstract: The U.S., Australia, and India… Read more
In a world of proliferating nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, America and its allies and friends need a comprehensive missile defense system that protects people and vital interests from attack. Deploying such a layered system would require three steps: … Read more
Abstract: An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) over the United States could end modern life in America overnight. Whether caused by an enemy attack (a nuclear device detonated above the atmosphere) or by a natural phenomenon (a geomagnetic storm), an EMP can cause entire regions of… Read more
March 23 will mark the 25th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's televised speech to the nation proposing the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) to protect the United States against missile attack.[1] This speech marked the point of departure for the basis of U.S. strategic policy away from the threat of retaliation and… Read more
Abstract: The Obama Administration is asserting that the New START arms control treaty with Russia has a “robust” verification regime, and that it is effectively verifiable. But it is certainly much less verifiable than the original START. The U.S. will know significantly less about… Read more
The lack of presidential leadership in defense policy has raised grave doubts about the ability of the United States to honor its growing number of overseas security commitments. Few independent observers believe the Administration's claim that the U.S. military has the requisite capabilities to win two "nearly simultaneous" major regional conflicts (MRCs). Distressingly, this growing mismatch… Read more
The Bush Administration's initiative to sell civilian nuclear technology to India, a de facto nuclear-weapon state, is a landmark decision that will have a broad and lasting impact on the international nonproliferation regime. The challenge will be to develop cooperative nuclear energy relationships with friendly, democratic, de facto nuclear powers such… Read more
Abstract: Most Americans—whether members of the public or politicians in Congress—ignore or are unaware of the very real threat of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. A nuclear device detonated high in the atmosphere above the American mainland can easily disable the country’s electrical grid—shutting… Read more
Abstract: The Obama Administration's plan for ballistic missile defense and its proposed FY 2011 budget for the missile defense program would leave the program treading water. At the same time, the threat of ballistic missile attack… Read more
The Senate Appropriations Committee has moved to eliminate development funding for the Navy’s Standard Missile-3 Block II-B missile defense interceptor in its version of the Defense appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012. This interceptor is part of the broader Navy program for developing and deploying Aegis weapons system-based missile defense… Read more
In a recent speech to the Conference on Global Zero, Rose Gottemoeller, the Assistant Secretary for Arms Control,...… Read more
Yet again, the Russians are working to strengthen their position prior to NATO’s Chicago summit coming up in...… Read more
In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which was...… Read more
Last Thursday, Iran and Turkey signed an agreement aimed at increasing trade between the two countries and doubling...… Read more
The mention of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack in the presidential GOP debate hosted by The Heritage Foundation...… Read more
In the latest exercise in fact-twisting, General Nikolai Makarov, Russian Chief of the General Staff, said that Russia...… Read more
Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia would deploy short-range missiles and possibly...… Read more
[caption id="attachment_84462" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) is launched from the...… Read more
Ballistic missiles pose an increasing risk to the United States and its allies, particularly as more nations strive to...… Read more
“The missile defense system we are establishing in Europe is not directed against Russia. We have said that publicly and...… Read more
Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs and Chung Ju-Yung Fellow for Policy Studies
Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Energy Policy, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies
Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center
Deputy Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and Director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies
Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, and Director, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies
Senior Research Fellow, Northeast Asia
F.M. Kirby Research Fellow in National Security Policy
Distinguished Fellow