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 creative opportunities for emerging experts from a wide range of backgrounds 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.

Photo: CSIS

Photo: CSIS

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Photo: TAO-CHUAN YEH/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: TAO-CHUAN YEH/AFP via Getty Images

Report Launch: Project Atom 2025

December 10, 2025 • 9:00 am – 2:00 pm EST
In Person
Webcast
Hosted by Project on Nuclear Issues

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Photo: Airman 1st Class Jack Rodriguez

Photo: Airman 1st Class Jack Rodriguez

HTK Series

A public discussion series with Heather Williams, Tom Karako, and Kari Bingen offering real-time context and commentary on national security developments and strategic forces issues

Featured Analysis

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Game On: Opportunities for Euro-Atlantic Strategic Stability and Arms Control

Europe is likely to remain a theater of instability despite pressure for a peace settlement in Ukraine. As the United States shifts toward the Indo-Pacific and Russia continues to pursue its territorial ambitions, what might arms control look like after the war in Ukraine?

Report by Heather Williams, Nicholas Adamopoulos, Lachlan MacKenzie, and Catherine Murphy — April 21, 2025

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Featured Event

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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Report Launch: Project Atom 2025

Please join the Project on Nuclear Issues for a launch event for the Project Atom 2025 report on escalatory risk in the Indo-Pacific. 

Event — December 10, 2025

Russia’s Latest Nuclear Saber-Rattling: Nuclear Testing?

President Putin’s instruction for Russian military and political leaders to begin “preparations for nuclear weapons tests” follows President Trump’s similar order last week, but also fits a wider pattern of nuclear saber-rattling tied to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Critical Questions by Heather Williams and Lachlan MacKenzie — November 5, 2025

Can the United States Immediately Return to Nuclear Testing?

President Trump’s post raises technical questions about how and if the United States could “immediately” return to nuclear testing, and political considerations about the signaling behind nuclear testing and who would benefit most from a return to testing.

Critical Questions by Heather Williams — October 30, 2025

Audio Briefs

Can the United States Immediately Return to Nuclear Testing?

An audio version of "⁠Can the United States Immediately Return to Nuclear Testing?⁠," a new Critical Questions by CSIS's Heather Williams. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Heather Williams — October 30, 2025

Audio Briefs