18 Jan 2023
“If the problem becomes more serious”: South Korea talks going nuclear
The high stakes on Korean Peninsula have quickly become even more acute in 2023.
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22 Dec 2022
The Interpreter 2022: Your most-read articles
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the year. But readers also wanted to know all about Southeast Asia’s elections. -
12 Dec 2022
North Korea’s “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” goes ballistic
Does the appearance of Kim Jong-un’s “beloved” middle child signal more than just succession planning? -
7 Dec 2022
All in the family: North Korea’s means of nuclear survivability
Kim Jong-un’s daughter reveal might be about keeping a trusted finger on the nuclear button more than succession plans. -
22 Nov 2022
India’s military: a tech leap risks a nuclear chasm
India’s conventional military modernisation means grappling with the accelerated danger of nuclear miscalculation. -
11 Nov 2022
North Korea: unpredictably predictable
The rationale behind Pyongyang’s provocative missile launches may not be as menacing as it appears. -
4 Nov 2022
Solutions to the North Korea issue no longer include denuclearisation
A minimalist approach based on arms control, risk reduction and deterrence is what’s needed right now on the Peninsula. -
27 Oct 2022
The remote Marshall Islands complicate US Pacific policy
A sand-rimmed paradise with a long nuclear history has a surprising amount of clout in the Washington vs Beijing game. -
12 Oct 2022
If Russia breaks the nuclear taboo
Would the use of a lower yield atomic weapon really prompt the same catastrophic logic of escalation? -
5 Oct 2022
Hot button issue: North Korea’s bold new nuclear stance
Regional leaders would do well to focus on engagement with Pyongyang after missile launches set a dangerous precedent. -
25 Jul 2022
Australia and the Nuclear Ban Treaty
If disarmament is to be truly realistic, the world needs to change the conversation about nuclear weapons. -
27 Jun 2022
Patiently waiting for North Korea’s next nuclear test
Any countdown could depend on what Beijing is willing to tolerate. -
4 May 2022
For North Korea, military parades come before the people’s wellbeing
There is no mask over the regime’s true intentions. -
17 Mar 2022
Washington rediscovers “nuclear responsibility” in the Ukraine crisis
Australian scholar Hedley Bull saw special obligations for great powers to avoid the worst possible catastrophe. -
22 Feb 2022
Damage limitation and US nuclear strategy
In an atomic world, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. -
15 Dec 2021
Crisis stability as a priority in US-China relations
Arms control with China will look very different from arms control with Russia. -
3 Nov 2021
It’s time to talk about existential risk
There will be no chance to review the “lessons learned”. -
1 Oct 2021
An arms control stocktake
Assessing the challenges ahead for the family of treaties governing nuclear weapons. -
16 Sep 2021
North Korea’s calculated restraint
Pyongyang is giving Washington a taste of its own “strategic patience” medicine. -
6 Sep 2021
Japan’s nuclear identity and the complicated endgame
The legacy of a complex nuclear history weighs heavily on a country torn between deterrence and disarmament. -
19 Aug 2021
China’s new silos: Nuclear arms control more urgent than ever
News of huge missile silo fields shows dumb luck is no basis for managing a risk of nuclear catastrophe. -
12 Feb 2021
Scottish independence and the implications for British defence
Breaking away from the UK would bring up some thorny issues – like what to do with nukes. -
21 Jan 2021
A “No-First-Use” doctrine would undermine American nuclear deterrence
And Australia should make clear to the Biden administration any such commitment is not in the interests of allies. -
20 Jan 2021
Iran nuclear deal: Revenge of the diplomats
Re-negotiations with Tehran will be a fascinating guide to how a Biden administration deals with Middle East challenges. -
21 Dec 2020
A missile spotter’s guide to North Korea (and beyond)
Everything happens for a reason. And that reason is normally physics or finance. -
2 Nov 2020
Nuclear Ban Treaty: Wishful thinking over realism
Lacking enforcement mechanisms or a practical path to elimination, the treaty has little chance of being effective. -
27 Oct 2020
Where will Australia stand on banning weapons of mass destruction?
The issue can no longer be dodged. Nuclear weapons will become illegal under the rules-based order of international law. -
5 Aug 2020
Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Existing nuclear arms control deals are dead or dying, but that should not be an excuse to give up disarmament hopes. -
17 Jul 2020
The kind of test the world doesn’t need
Even if merely talk, speculation about the US resuming nuclear weapons tests could needlessly spark bigger problems. -
15 Jun 2020
Arms control or out of control?
Revoking hard-won arms control achievements seems nothing less than madness. -
26 May 2020
Mauritius, Diego Garcia and the small matter of nukes
Mauritius can’t have sovereignty over the Chagos and US nuclear weapons housed on Diego Garcia. Or can it? -
12 Nov 2019
North Korea’s deadline logic
Pyongyang has declared an end-of-year cut off in the nuclear talks, yet does such a deadline really matter? -
6 Sep 2019
Pressure upon pressure builds around Kashmir
<p>Amid sabre rattling and sharp rhetoric, the hostility between India and Pakistan is only growing.</p> -
12 Jul 2019
Professor White, the bomb can endanger but not defend Australia
Nuclear weapons have dubious operational utility and discarding treaty obligations would leave the stench of hypocrisy. -
3 May 2019
North Korea’s uranium and prospects of a stealthier bomb
Counting Pyongyang’s missiles for potential nuclear weapons is understandable but perhaps we need to think smaller, too. -
4 Mar 2019
Four reasons why China supports North Korea
China’s policy on the Korean peninsula is based on geopolitical calculus. Its support of North Korea will stay intact. -
3 Dec 2018
Why denuclearisation is less important for South Korea
South Korea has lived under direct North Korean threat for decades and not just because of the North’s nuclear weapons. -
16 Nov 2018
It’s time to fill Asia’s arms control void
The post-Cold War arms control architecture is crumbling, and if it can’t be salvaged, something new is required. -
4 Oct 2018
The nuclear weapons ban treaty, one year on
It is perfectly understandable to want the elimination of nuclear weapons, but how many have actually read the treaty? -
16 Jul 2018
Turkey must be thinking of the Bomb
While NATO wobbles and strongmen prosper, a newly authoritarian Turkey might turn towards nuclear options. -
25 Jan 2018
Asia’s escalating missile race
Last year saw a surge in testing and deployment of both ballistic and cruise missile technology throughout the Indo-Pacific. -
17 Jan 2018
Why Australia should consider sharing nuclear weapons
Nuclear sharing is an old idea worth considering as the future becomes less certain and potentially darker. -
19 Dec 2017
The UN nuclear ban treaty is historic on five counts
Liberal internationalist states for the first time oppose a cause championed by the Nobel Peace Committee. -
8 Dec 2017
Does the nuclear weapon ban treaty warrant the Nobel Prize?
Australia should not sign the ban treaty. But the need for nuclear disarmament has not diminished. -
7 Nov 2017
The implications of a North Korean open-air nuclear test
A North Korean atmospheric nuclear test could well spark a rolling ‘summer of 1914’-style crisis. -
6 Nov 2017
Why South Korea and Japan should not go nuclear
Were Seoul or Tokyo to acquire nuclear-weapons capacity, the region would not instantly become any more or less secure. -
31 Oct 2017
North Korea: How to start a nuclear war without even trying
If effective strategy requires realistic aims, then America is in trouble. -
6 Sep 2017
Don’t discount the chances of a new Korean war
Robert Kelly says he doesn't know 'anyone serious who advocates air strikes'. But what is his definition of 'serious' if it excludes the US president? -
4 Sep 2017
North Korea: Trump’s terrible binary choice
Accept mutual nuclear vulnerability with North Korea or embark on a major war on the Korean peninsula. There is no third option. -
22 Aug 2017
The unacceptable dangers of accepting a nuclear North Korea
There needs to be better recognition of the risks involved in not disarming North Korea.