Why is Obama's nuclear policy schizophrenic and who was Bush pointing US nuclear weapons at? Our Wednesday Lowy Lunch speaker, the Federation of American Scientists' Hans Kristensen, has the answers in his presentation on the Obama Administration's 2010 Nuclear Posture Review.
The implications of Obama's Nuclear Posture Review are just beginning to be felt as they filter down into the US military planning bureaucracy and its objectives meet with real-world constraints such as the US fiscal crisis and allied anxiety, especially in the Pacific. Kristensen's talk was most unusual (and fun) due to the redacted top secret US military planning documents he showed during his presentation, acquired thanks to US Freedom of Information legislation.
Listen to his full talk to hear what was peeking out from under the redactions. Below is my chat with him after the event.
The Nuclear Reactions column is supported by the Nuclear Security Project of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, as part of a wider partnership between the NSP and the Lowy Institute.
Photo courtesy of the US Air Force.
