Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Brendan Thomas-Noone argues that advances in technology are making tactical nuclear weapons more precise and potentially more usable. He argues that new arms control measures are needed to promote greater transparency about the development of these weapons. Photo:

Is Nuclear Arms Control Dead? William Hobart The National Interest 19 August 2014 Please click here for the online text

In an opinion piece in The Australian, Rodger Shanahan writes that Hassan Rowhani's ability to curb Iran's nucler ambitions is limited

John Carlson is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy.  This paper was presented to an Asan Institute fo Policy Studies conference in Seoul in November 2011.  The conference theme was 'Nuclear Crisis in Northeast Asia'

In this article on The Diplomat's Flashpoints blog, Rory Medcalf asks whether Asia's growing strategic uncertainty will affect President Obama's push for nuclear disarmament

In this opinion piece in leading Indian daily newspaper The Hindu, the Lowy Institute's Rory Medcalf and Fiona Cunningham make the case for India and China to build a stabilising nuclear dialogue now that the Agni V missile test has demonstrated India's ability to build a nuclear deterrent

Strategic uncertainty in East Asia is leaving nations look to their defences. At the same time, the United States is leading a push to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international security. In this major international research report, the Lowy Institute's Rory Medcalf and Fiona Cunningham

In an opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald, Linda Jakobson, Program Director East Asia at the Lowy Institute, writes that Kim Jong-un is unlikely to be prepared for the task ahead.Sydney Morning Herald, 21 December 2011, p. 11

In an opinion piece in The Australian, Rory Medcalf, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program, writes that with the death of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il, Asia will be bracing for instability. A key question is whether his successor feels compelled to take assertive action

In this opinion piece in the Indian Express newspaper, published on the eve of the Australian Labor Party’s historic policy change allowing safeguarded uranium exports to India, the Lowy Institute’s Rory Medcalf examines what an obstacle this issue had become to a trust-based Australia-India

In this lecture under the Lowy Institute's Canberra Food for Thought series, leading nuclear expert Professor Scott Sagan of Stanford University weighs up the achievements and the challenges ahead for the Obama nuclear agenda. This event, moderated by the Lowy Institute's Rory Medcalf, was supported

There were high expectations for the growth of nuclear power in the years leading up to the Fukushima nuclear accident on 11 March 2011, as concerns about energy security and climate change prompted governments to reconsider their energy options. But the expansion of nuclear power has posed serious

Is a dangerous nuclear competition emerging between the two most populous nations? In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Fiona Cunningham and Rory Medcalf warn of nuclear dangers as China and India rise. The authors call for a strategic stability dialogue embedded in mutual respect, to ensure possible

Canberra is seeking an Indo-Pacific strategy for an era of Chinese, Indian and sustained American power. The contours of such a strategy were assessed by Rory Medcalf, in his contribution to the 2011-12 edition of the authoritative Strategic Asia series of books. His chapter provides the first

Most Australians do not feel comfortable with nuclear power, reinforced by the Fukushima crisis. Political leaders declare the subject off limits. Yet nuclear energy is a proven technology for clean, comparatively safe base load power. Our energy needs are growing fast in a carbon constrained

Lowy Institute Visiting Fellow John Carlson calls on the Australian government to facilitate an informed public discussion on nuclear power options for Australia and to refresh the Switkowski Report to bring it up to date

In this op-ed in The Australian, the director of the Lowy Institute’s international security program, Rory Medcalf, argues that the discovery and death of Bin Laden on the doorstep on Pakistan’s military academy raises fundamental questions about Islamabad as an ally against terrorism. It is

The Lowy Institute was privileged to host Ms Joan Rohlfing, President of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), the world's premier non-government organisation addressing the dangers of nuclear weapons

In this op-ed in The Times of India, Program Director Rory Medcalf argues the case for Australia to end its ban on uranium exports to India, in order to fulfil a much-needed strategic partnership between the two Indian Ocean democracies. This is an extended version of a piece that first appeared in

In an opinion piece in The Australian, Lowy Institute Deputy Director Martine Letts argues that Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd is not off-message in his comments on Israel and International Atomic Energy Agency inspections.The Australian, 22 December 2010, p. 10

In this opinion piece in The Age, Lowy Institute International Security Program Director Rory Medcalf argues that the greatest damage from the November 2010 North Korean bombardment could be to US-China relations and thus to peace among the great powers in Asia.The Age, 25 November 2010, p. 21

Did the 2010 US Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) get it right? In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Visiting Fellow Hugh White argues that – contrary to what has been widely assumed – the NPR does not significantly reduce the role of nuclear weapons in America’s strategic posture. In particular, it

In this panel discussion on China Radio International's Beyond Beijing program, Research Associate and Asia Security Project Coordinator Raoul Heinrichs explores the future prospects for the Six Party Talks, and for security on the Korean Peninsula

On 21 June 2010, the Lowy Institute held a lecture by the President of the Federation of American Scientists, Dr Charles Ferguson, as part of its Distinguished Speaker Series. Dr Ferguson examined the links between civil nuclear energy and nuclear weapons proliferation. In light of the growing