After a long period of post-Cold War stability, the risks posed by nuclear weapons are increasing sharply. This is marked by the invasion of Ukraine and a nuclear generation of Russian nuclear weapons; a vast expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal and increasing tensions over Taiwan; continued missile testing by North Korea and uranium enrichment by Iran; and a major nuclear modernization program in the United States, with calls for further increases to respond to Russia and China. Physicists played an important role in nuclear debates during the Cold War; they can play an important role again in this new period of increased nuclear risk.
Steve Fetter is visiting professor in the Department of War Studies and senior visiting fellow in the Centre for Science and Security Studies, on sabbatical leave from the University of Maryland, where he is professor in the School of Public Policy and former dean. He led the national security division in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Obama administration and served in the Department of Defense in the Clinton administration. He received an S.B. in physics from MIT and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
