Hello,
Welcome to the first edition of the Keystone Defense Initiative's newsletter.
The goal of U.S. strategic deterrence is to defend the United States, preserve the U.S.-led order, and maintain the relative peace we have enjoyed since World War II. Hudson Institute's Keystone Defense Initiative (KDI) recognizes that the United States' nuclear deterrent is the keystone of strategic deterrence.
Every month we'll offer up key analyses, thoughtful debates and discussions, and facts to inform our considerations for how best to adapt our policies and strategies to bolster the credibility of strategic deterrence.
For our first edition, we are pleased to highlight Commander of U.S. Strategic Command Admiral Chas Richard's recent Hudson event, where he shared his insights about how deterrence can and must meet the pressing challenge of China's rapid nuclear weapons expansion.
Thank you for your interest and support.
-Rebeccah Heinrichs, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Our Latest
Virtual Event | A Conversation with Admiral Richard
China is in the middle of a rapid military buildup across all domains and is shifting from a minimum deterrent nuclear posture to a nuclear posture that can be used coercively in pursuit of its national objectives.
U.S. Strategic Command’s Admiral Charles “Chas” Richard joined Rebeccah Heinrichs for a conversation on China’s nuclear program and how integrated deterrence must meet the challenges of today’s varied nuclear threat environment.
Rebeccah Heinrichs on US Nuclear Deterrence
Watch Rebeccah Heinrichs' two-minute "take" on the nuclear threats facing the United States and the need for a continued bipartisan push to modernize the U.S. military's aging nuclear triad and delivery systems.
KDI Quotes
A collection of key quotes on strategic deterrence from prominent voices in our community
Congressman Mike Turner, Ranking Member of the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee, speaking at Hudson Institute
"Right now, we need to be investing in modernization, and really across all systems. We had the issue of Afghanistan, Iraq, and then of course, sequestration that significantly both shifted our priorities, and then even with sequestration, compromised our readiness and put off a lot of modernization that was necessary just with our current systems.
We're now in a situation where our adversaries are taking advantage of that, that they have continued modernization and we're looking at their technologies that could be leapfrogging the United States technology. So we can't just merely plot a course from where we were and just re-engage on our modernization that we had planned."
Frank Miller in Real Clear Defense
"No dialogue should be necessary to avoid dangerous interactions between U.S. and Russian forces and avoid threatening exercises. Russia needs to be reminded of its existing obligations, and we should avoid any suggestion that we would make new concessions to get them to observe them."
Drs. Keith Payne and Michaela Dodge for the National Institute for Public Policy
"The United States will engage in a dialogue with Moscow on strategic stability in preparation for arms control negotiations. For that dialogue to be useful, the United State must recognize that the aged Cold War stability paradigm and its mirror-imaging presumption are disconnected from current realities."
Top Reads
A Bipartisan Call To Stay the Course on US Homeland Missile Defense
Walter Slocombe & Robert Soofer, Breaking Defense
A Nuclear Cruise Missile Could Be Vital for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Efforts
David Cooper, Breaking Defense
Deterrence Implications of the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan
David J. Trachtenberg, National Institute for Public Policy
China’s Destabilizing Nuclear Weapons ‘Strategic Breakout’
Rebeccah Heinrichs, 1945
