event

Non-nuclear Weapons and the Risk of Nuclear War: A Russian Perspective

Wed. November 29th, 2017
Washington, DC

The risk of a nuclear war is rising because of growing non-nuclear threats to nuclear weapons and their command-and-control systems. In a conventional war, such “entanglement” could lead to non-nuclear operations inadvertently threatening the opponent’s nuclear deterrent or being misinterpreted as preparations for nuclear use, potentially sparking catastrophic escalation. Alexey Arbatov, who co-authored a new Carnegie volume, Entanglement: Chinese and Russian Perspectives on Non-nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Risks, gave a Russian view of this problem and presented potential policy options in a conversation with James Acton. 

Alexey Arbatov

Alexey Arbatov is the head of the Center for International Security at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

James Acton

James Acton is is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

SecurityMilitaryForeign PolicyNuclear PolicyNorth AmericaUnited StatesRussia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Alexey Arbatov

Alexey Arbatov is the head of the Center for International Security at the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations.

James M. Acton

Jessica T. Mathews Chair, Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program

Acton holds the Jessica T. Mathews Chair and is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.