Science, Technology, and Public Policy

Kari A. Bingen and Heather W. Williams write that if Russia plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space to target satellites, the threat is definitely serious—and the U.S. should act fast.

This policy brief explains how Russia and Iran have sought to upgrade their partnership through greater diplomatic support for pushing back on Western hegemony, mutual provision of key weapons systems, and sharing of expertise on evading sanctions.

Michael Lipin interviews Project on Managing the Atom Associate Nicole Grajewski on why Iran may not benefit much from its new membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Belfer Center experts on security, intelligence, and cybersecurity issues were interviewed on the recent leak of classified military intelligence documents allegedly by Airman Jack Teixeira.

David M. Allison argues that in ascending order of predictive power, warnings of an imminent nuclear strike would come from Russian whistleblowers, the U.S. intelligence community, and Putin himself.

The rapid pace of Arctic thaw demands collaboration with Russia, no matter the political implications. In a seminar hosted by the Arctic Initiative on May 11, 2022, Andrey Todorov and Andreas Østhagen tackled the thorny question of how to proceed with Arctic Ocean governance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and expressed tentative hope for a pragmatic approach to cooperating with Russia on pressing issues such as shipping and fishery management.

Joel Clement writes that because the Biden administration  has moved to repair the damage done by the Trump administration, colleagues from around the global Arctic are optimistic once again about partnering with America on solutions to regional crises .

Tarah Wheeler critiques a new book, This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends by Nicola Perlroth, and concludes that it gets the policy recommendations right while making technical errors that could undermine trust in its conclusions.

Bruce Schneier recommends that the United States improve government software procurement. Scrutiny cannot end with purchase: Security requirements need to be monitored throughout the software's life cycle, along with what software is being used in government networks.

Bruce Schneier describes how the SolarWinds cyberattack is a security failure of enormous proportions — and a wake-up call. The United States must rethink its cybersecurity protocols.