Project on Nuclear Issues

Founded in 2003, PONI is the premier networked community of next generation professionals prepared to meet the nuclear challenges of the future

PONI programs provide inclusive, diverse, and creative opportunities for emerging experts to learn about nuclear issues and engage thoughtfully with the nuclear community. PONI also conducts cutting-edge research and analysis on three main topic areas: deterrence and escalation, risk reduction and arms control, and disarmament.

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Next Generation Nuclear Network

CSIS launched the Project on Nuclear Issues in 2003 to develop the next generation of policy, technical and operational nuclear professionals through outreach, mentorship, research and debate.

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Photo: CSIS

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Conference

Capstone Conference

Hosted by Project on Nuclear Issues
June 15, 2023 • 8:30 am – 3:45 pm EDT

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Photo: Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: Sergei Ilnitsky/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Alternative Nuclear Futures: Capability and Credibility Challenges for U.S. Extended Nuclear Deterrence

In the next 10 years, U.S. extended deterrence could look notably different than it does today. To explore these issues, the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues used an alternative futures methodology to unpack how key drivers might affect the U.S. extended deterrence mission.

Report by Heather Williams , Kelsey Hartigan , Joseph Rodgers , and Reja Younis — May 8, 2023

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In Person

Capstone Conference

Presented by Project on Nuclear Issues
June 15, 2023 • 8:30 am – 3:45 pm EDT
Featured Project: Deterrence 101

Deterrence 101 is a collection of three thirty-minute long videos that explore core deterrence theory. Each video describes basic deterrence concepts, roots these ideas in a historical timeline, and features interviews with leading nuclear policy experts.

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Debate: North Korea's Nuclear Program

The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI), Ploughshares Fund, and the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium are pleased to invite you to the third in a debate series on a range of nuclear challenges and policy decisions the Trump administration will face in 2017. The debate series aims to provide a forum for in-depth exploration of arguments on both sides of key nuclear policy issues.

Event by Rebecca Hersman , Paul Carroll , Melissa Hanham , Kelly Magsamen , and John Warden — June 20, 2017

Project on Nuclear Issues

The role that nuclear weapons play in international security has changed since the end of the Cold War, but the need to maintain and replenish the human infrastructure for supporting nuclear capabilities and dealing with the multitude of nuclear challenges remains essential. Recognizing this challenge, CSIS launched the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) in 2003 to develop the next generation of policy, technical, and operational nuclear professionals through outreach, mentorship, research, and debate. PONI runs two signature programs—the Nuclear Scholars Initiative and the Annual Conference Series—to engage emerging nuclear experts in thoughtful and informed debate and research over how best to address the nuclear community’s most pressing problems. The papers included in this volume comprise research from participants in the 2016 Nuclear Scholars Initiative and the PONI Conference Series.

Report by Mark F. Cancian — May 1, 2017

PONI 2017 Capstone Conference

The final conference of the 2016-2017 PONI Conference Series will be held on March 16 at United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Offutt Air Force Base.

Event by Rebecca Hersman — March 16, 2017

CSIS European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues

The European Trilateral Track 2 Nuclear Dialogues, sponsored by CSIS in partnership with the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS), has convened senior nuclear policy experts from the United Kingdom, France, and the United States (P3) for the past eight years to discuss nuclear deterrence policy issues and to identify areas of consensus among the three countries.

Report by Rebecca Hersman — February 9, 2017

The Future of Alliances and Extended Nuclear Deterrence

A survey of the world today finds the nuclear landscape – from Russia, to North Korea, to India, Pakistan, and China – to be more uncertain and precarious than it has been any time since the end of the Cold War. Yet, even as nuclear dangers seem to be growing, there seems to be deepening discontent with the notion of nuclear deterrence. A growing chorus of voices questions the legitimacy of assurance and deterrence, fracturing what might have been thought at one point to be a consensus between allies. There also seems to be a growing skepticism about the benefits of the internationalist system on which deterrence, and especially extended deterrence, depends. We invite you to join us for a discussion on these issues facing the Trump administration.

Event by Kathleen H. Hicks and Rebecca Hersman — February 1, 2017

The Deterrence and Assurance Conversation

As we survey the world today, we find the nuclear landscape to be more uncertain and precarious than it has been at any time since the end of the Cold War.

Report by Rebecca Hersman — January 13, 2017

PONI 2016 Winter Conference

The third conference of the 2016-2017 Conference Series will be held on December 6-7, 2016 at CSIS.

Event by Rebecca Hersman — December 6, 2016

Keeping Chemical Weapons Out of the Hands of Terrorists

The nonproliferation community achieved a quiet triumph last month with the effective international operation to secure and remove the last chemical weapons precursors that remained in Libya, eliminating the threat of them falling into the wrong hands.

Event by Rebecca Hersman , Deepti Choubey , H.E. Dr. Christoph Israng , Simon Limage , Jonas Parello-Plesner , and Mallory Stewart — November 10, 2016