US Nuclear Policy 101

Abstract: This lecture is an introduction to US nuclear policy. It begins with a description of the processes by which nuclear policy is made and implemented, including the nuclear posture reviews conducted by each new administration. It then turns from process to content with a review the main elements of US policy and their evolution since the end of the Cold War. It concludes with a discussion of the key questions that are likely to drive the next Nuclear Posture Review.

Bio: Brad Roberts is the director of the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Prior to this position, he was deputy assistant secretary of defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy. In this role, he served as policy director of the Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review and Ballistic Missile Defense Review and led their implementation. Between leaving the Office of the Secretary of Defense and assuming his current responsibilities, Dr. Roberts was a consulting professor at Stanford University and William Perry Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). While at CISAC, he authored a book entitled The Case for US Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century, which won the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title in 2016.