Ideas at the edges

Event Details

A New Nuclear Age
In 1945 there was one country with nuclear capabilities. Today (2024) only 80 years later, there are nine (9) nuclear weapons states. Each has the potential for catastrophic conflict.

Why Important to me
80 years ago 100 scientists from around the world were brought to the United States and collaborated to develop the complex science that changed the world – the atomic bomb. At that time only one country (the United States) had the combination of science and manufacturing capability to execute what many believe was the most amazing scientific achievement of the last century. Today 9 countries have this capability (with one or more thought to be in development).

With an exceedingly complex international security environment, leaders, policymakers, planners, and legislatures need to think about the unthinkable as nuclear conflict is truly an existential threat to all human kind.

What I will learn

• Understand the history of each countries development of nuclear capabilities. The when, why and how. And changes as leadership changed over time.
• Today and looking forward:
• An understanding of each country – their current capability. Their motivations and actions (verbal and otherwise). Their relationship with the US and as alley or a potential threat.
• The relevance and potential impact of new and changing alliances.
• What are potential solutions? The complexities, a timetable, the barriers.
• The role of the United States.

James M. Acton holds the Jessica T. Mathews Chair and is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Acton was awarded his PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge University. Previously Acton was a member of the faculty of the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London.

In the world of experts addressing nuclear issues, Acton is recognizing as one of the top thought leaders.

A physicist by training, Acton is currently writing a book on the nuclear escalation risks of advanced nonnuclear weapons and how to mitigate them. His work on this subject includes the International Security article “Escalation through Entanglement” and the Carnegie report, Is It a Nuke?.

An expert on hypersonic weapons and the author of the Carnegie report, Silver Bullet?, Acton has testified on this subject to the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee and the congressionally chartered U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He has also testified to the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on nuclear modernization.

Acton’s publications span the field of nuclear policy.

Acton is a member of the International Advisory Council for the Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe. He has published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Dædalus, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Science & Global Security, and Survival. He has appeared on CNN’s State of the Union, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, and PBS NewsHour.