Managing the Atom

MTA @BelferCenter is the primary nuclear policy research project at @Harvard @Kennedy_School. RT ≠ endorsement.

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

@Rabs_AA: : Pakistan walks a razor's edge in the Gulf war — mediating not out of ambition, but survival.

https://t.co/Edj8b4Bj6u

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

In fall 2022, the CIA put the odds of Russian nuclear use in Ukraine at "50% or higher" — and the world has barely reckoned with it. @DrUlrichKuehn investigates in Defense and Security Analysis: https://t.co/jVQATdxAoI

Join us for a discussion: https://t.co/N1mLBlk5q1

[Dublin European Law Institute (DELI) @DELI_DCU]

Online event: A European NATO? with @BelferCenter Friday, 8 May at 5pm (Irish time).

As Trump takes an increasingly hostile position towards Europe and its defences, this panel explores how Europe can play a greater role within the framework of NATO. https://t.co/EIoTgznphz

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

Please join @ManagingtheAtom & @PugwashConfs at UN HQ for an NPT Review Conference Side Event on Friday, May 8. W/me @david_m_allison @sbidgood @dbsalisbury.

We'll discuss applications of new @mitpress book "Atomic Backfires" for preserving the NPT.

https://t.co/MsWbfGsSHs

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

Work on “taboo” weapons often studies one system. In new @JPR_journal research w/@david_m_allison, @Lauren_Sukin, we use an experiment to compare how the U.S. public weighs weapon choice, casualties, & effectiveness across six weapon types.

#OpenAccess: https://t.co/oVtuTtzl9y

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/4

As the Trump administration’s “What about China?” nuclear arms control agenda for a New START follow-on unfolds, here’s a 2020 throwback. @BulletinAtomic @david_m_allison

Link here: https://t.co/J3wZaF15Kl

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

Some thoughts from Prof. Matthew Bunn as New START expires https://t.co/ypwpT0gOcT

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

Steven Miller and Toni Erskine introduce the Special Issue on “AI and the Decision to Go to War,” outlining how existing AI technologies may shape state decisions on the use of force through automated self-defense and AI-enabled decision-support systems.
https://t.co/OW37RZoO30

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

In a column for The Hill, Prof Matthew Bunn warns that the Feb 5 expiration of New START risks a nuclear arms race and urges the Trump administration to seize a proposed U.S.–Russia “strategic pause” as a gateway to broader nuclear restraint talks.
https://t.co/XFKuACpUaf

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

Join us for a Book Talk with Erik Lin-Greenberg on his newly released book "Remote Revolution: Drones and Modern Statecraft", next Monday, February 2nd at 1:30 PM EST --https://t.co/QlaJXqE5CT

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

Take a look at MTA / ISP Research Fellow Spenser Warren's recent article in War on the Rocks: https://t.co/cj0lXnFcM9

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

On January 26, MTA will resume its weekly seminar series with a featured discussion led by Adam Mount on his recently published article in International Security:
https://t.co/zcV5fk1qTl

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/5

Great news! Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail is now #OpenAccess so that everyone can read it online. Thanks to generous support from @mitpress Direct to Open (D20). @ManagingtheAtom

https://t.co/F89cE406jg

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/7

NEW ARTICLE: I published #OpenAccess in @TheNonproReview on the institutional design of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). My article reconsiders what “success” for the #NuclearBan might look like now.

https://t.co/TzGUb0VOu7

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/2

@TheNonproReview has published a second special issue dedicated to the Beyond Nuclear Deterrence (BND) Working Group.

In the #OpenAccess intro, @DrElbahtimy, Rebecca Davis Gibbons, & I review 2 years of BND publications, activities, & challenges.

https://t.co/ykRlFKww4D

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

MTA is thrilled to announce the publication of a new book! Edited by our visiting scholar @HerzogSM and alumni @GDavidArceneaux @afwpetrovics for @mitpress.

It discusses cases when well-intentioned nuclear policies may actually make problems worse.

https://t.co/uzsRqntkio

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/7

It's book publication day! "Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail" is out now with major booksellers from @mitpress in @BelferCenter's Studies in International Security.

Contents and discount codes described in this thread. @ManagingtheAtom

https://t.co/fOhfZ6DhNl

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

MTA Visiting Scholar @HerzogSM & alum @david_m_allison won a Best Paper 2025 Award from @SocRiskAnalysis for work on the AI-nuclear proliferation nexus. The prize honors papers w/ "the most significant impacts on the theory or practice of risk analysis.” https://t.co/zvAfUXpYhK

[Stephen Herzog @HerzogSM]

1/6

I co-edited a new special issue of @TheNonproReview w/@DrElbahtimy & Rebecca Davis Gibbons featuring research from the @macfound & @ManagingtheAtom Beyond Nuclear Deterrence Working Group.

Our introduction to the issue is here (#OpenAccess): https://t.co/oMr22Ib5Uc

[Managing the Atom @ManagingtheAtom]

MTA Associate & MIT Senior Researcher
@mbudjeryn was featured on CNN to discuss the damage to the Chernobyl confinement structure: https://t.co/ljJAefi8ec