The Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Live Debate Series is back! The PONI Debate Series was started in 2009 to have a more dynamic and free flowing exchange of ideas, resulting in an enriched and focused examination of critical issues.

We are pleased to invite you to a live debate on U.S. Nuclear Targeting. The Strategic Posture Commission Report called for modifying the U.S. nuclear forces to address the possibility that China will field counterforce-capable missiles, a threat that U.S. strategic forces face on par with Russia. There is an ongoing fundamental debate on the U.S. nuclear targeting policy of counterforce and whether it is sufficient for maintaining deterrence.

Debate Question: Should the US maintain its current nuclear targeting policy of holding at risk China’s and Russia’s leaders, nuclear command-and-control capabilities, military forces, and war supporting industry (WSI), or should it shift to an approach that focuses solely on conventional forces and WSI? 

Join Mr. Franklin Miller, Principal at the Scowcroft Group, and Dr. James Acton, Jessica T. Mathews Chair and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in a live debate moderated by Dr. Heather W. Williams, Director, Project on Nuclear Issues. PONI Mid-Career Stephanie Stapleton, Research Analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses will be the discussant. The debate will take place on January 25th, 10:00am-11:00am ET at CSIS and will be livestreamed.

This event is made possible through general support to the Project on Nuclear Issues.