Nuclear Command, Control, and Stability Framework

Abstract

This project investigates the topic of nuclear command and control (C2) as a policy consideration for expressing and mitigating nuclear risks. The research was led by the Virginia Tech Applied Research Corporation (VT-ARC) with a sub-award to ANSER's Asia-Pacific Institute. The overall structure for the project revolves around two independent assessments of a stability framework proposed in the 2007 book chapter titled, “Nuclear Command and Control in the Twenty First Century: Trends, Disparities and the Impact on Stability.”1 The first independent assessment was conducted by the Decision Support Red Team (DSRT) group at VT-ARC and focused on the functional design of the stability framework and the ease and accuracy with which it could be used by policy makers. This assessment was agnostic of specific regional and global characteristics and focused on the framework as a tool for expressing power dynamics. The second independent assessment was conducted by a research team at ANSER and took a deeper look at the merit of the stability framework for expressing nuclear stability dynamics in a regional (bipolar or multi-polar) context. A primary focus of both independent assessments was to determine the overall utility of the Framework for its application and use as a tool for constructive discourse by policy makers and non-technical personnel.