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FILE - This July 16, 1945, file photo, shows the mushroom cloud of the first atomic explosion at Trinity Test Site near Alamagordo, N.M. A visit by The head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Test in southern New Mexico, which marked the world's first atomic blast on July 16, 1945. She's scheduled to lead a commemoration Thursday, July 16, 2020, at the historic V-Site at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where early testing a
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FILE - Scientists and other workers rig the world's first atomic bomb to raise it up onto a 100-foot tower at the Trinity Test Site near Alamogordo, N.M. The New Mexico site where the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated is expecting thousands of visitors Saturday due to the popularity of the movie, "Oppenheimer." Trinity Site, a designated National Historic Landmark, only opens to the public twice a year. (AP Photo/File )
A Critical Moment for Dialogue and Disarmament

80th Anniversary of the Trinity Test

On July 16 1945, in New Mexico’s Jornada del Muerto desert at 5:30 a.m., the U.S. Army conducted the first ever detonation of a nuclear weapon as part of the Manhattan Project.

Now, 80 years later, nuclear tensions are resurfacing and the threat of proliferation grows. Nuclear Scientists and Experts at the Belfer Center come together to reflect on the Trinity Test as a critical moment at the dawn of the nuclear age and its enduring legacy, and question where we stand today.

International Security journals laid out in a fan
International Security is America's leading peer-reviewed journal of security affairs

War and International Politics

With the end of unipolarity, security competition among the great powers—China, Russia, and the United States—is back with a vengeance.

In the latest issue of International Security, John J. Mearsheimer argues that war is the dominant feature of life in the international system, mainly because of the nature of politics, and that politics is a fundamentally conflictual enterprise with the ever-present possibility of violence.

Middle East & North Africa

Artificial Intelligence

Energy

Science & Technology

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, June 15, 2025.
Live analysis from Belfer Center Experts

Israel-Iran Conflict

On June 12, 2025, Israel began a series of strikes against Iranian nuclear and military targets-- and Iran responded with force. Key questions about Iran's nuclear capabilities, wider regional instability in the Middle East, and the U.S.' role persist.

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