Shows
NucleCastPranay Vaddi: Inside the National Security Council, Policy and Arms ControlIn this episode, Adam interviews Pranay Vaddi, who shares his experiences working at the National Security Council (NSC) and his insights into nuclear policy and arms control. Vaddi discusses the daily operations at the NSC, the challenges of elevating nuclear issues within the government, and the importance of collaboration among various agencies. He also reflects on the evolution of the NSC, the dynamics of working within the bureaucracy, and the demanding nature of the job. Vaddi emphasizes the need for future leaders to engage in discussions and share their ideas to address pressing national security challenges.Pranay...2025-07-2940 min
Strategic Simplicity PodcastA Conversation with Alexandra BellI was happy to host a one-on-one conversation with Alexandra Bell, President and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a couple of weeks ago. She offered a glimpse into what a career in nuclear risk reduction and arms control really looks like in and out of government. Hopefully this offers some insights to early career professionals thinking about their next steps.Alex and I talked about her recent experience in government, leading the State Department’s arms control bureau in the early days of the Biden Administration to kick start diplomatic processes to extend the New ST...2025-07-251h 04
The Foreign Affairs InterviewThe Coming Nuclear HurricaneIt wasn’t long ago that both heads of state and prominent policymakers could speak seriously about a world without nuclear weapons. But in the course of just a few years, nuclear concerns have come back in force. Arms control has broken down almost entirely. China has started a massive expansion of its arsenal, putting basic assumptions about deterrence in doubt. Vladimir Putin has threatened nuclear use in Ukraine—threats that were taken very seriously by American officials. And proliferation risks have grown, with regard to both American adversaries like Iran and American allies in Europe and Asia who may...2025-07-171h 04
Strategic Simplicity PodcastVipin and I welcome Austin Long to the show (and MIT CNSP)Vipin and I welcome Austin Long, a former deputy director for strategic stability on the U.S. Joint Staff (J5) to the pod, and as a new Senior Fellow with MIT’s Center for Nuclear Security Policy. We had a wide-ranging discussion on* the recent UK-France joint statement on nuclear deterrence and the possible areas for the two allies to cooperate and implement the “Northwood Declaration” moving forward, * reactions to our Foreign Affairs article “How to Survive the New Nuclear Age”—including critiques of the U.S. retaining a damage limitation objective in its nuclear...2025-07-1658 min
Strategic Simplicity PodcastMTCR, Space + Defense Trade Streamlining, and Export ControlsOla and I talk about the Biden administration’s National Security Memorandum on Missile Technology Exports, the new Trump administration executive order, MTCR implementation and defense trade streamlining more generally. We summarize our recent article (link below at CSIS), and discuss the balance between protecting missile technologies and discouraging allies from pursuing nuclear weapons or other defense trade partners, how allies and industry engage the U.S. government to discuss defense technology cooperation and the barriers they face, and how the deteriorating security environment, technological advancement, and USG’s desire for allies to bolster their own defense capa...2025-07-1052 min
Net AssessmentA New Nuclear Age: The Sum of All Fears?Chris, Melanie, and Zack discuss the “nuclear hurricane” sweeping the world. They begin by returning to the question of whether President Trump made the right decision to conduct strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Then they shift to discussing Vipin Narang and Pranay Vaddi’s recent article “How to Survive the New Nuclear Age.” Should American leaders adopt a new nuclear strategy or adjust existing nuclear policies and capabilities? Chris endorses the Trump administration’s rethinking of certain types of aid to Ukraine, Melanie applauds General Dan Caine’s handling of a delicate political situation, and Zack commends Congressman Don Bacon for hi...2025-07-1054 min
Strategic Simplicity PodcastFraming the New START Follow-On DiscussionFollowing an earlier conversation with Bob Peters and John Warden on a possible U.S. force posture after New START expires on February 5, 2026, we look at the arms control side of the coin to brainstorm what a New START successor agreement may look like Mallory Stewart and Mike Albertson, two former U.S. government officials with decades of experience in implementing strategic arms control agreements, join us for the discussion. Mallory was most recently the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability, whereas Mike has held a number of...2025-07-071h 18
Geopolitics Decanted by SilveradoWhy America's Nuclear Deterrence Strategy Needs to ChangeDmitri Alperovitch talks with Vipin Narang, a former Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy, a portfolio which includes U.S nuclear weapons employment strategy, about why we are now entering the New Nuclear Age and the urgent changes that the United States has to make to its nuclear deterrence posture and strategy. They also debate the utility of counterforce vs countervalue nuclear targeting approaches and how believable the U.S. extended nuclear deterrence is to allies.
00:00 Introduction
00:57 Israel-Iran War
11:47 CAT5 Hurricane of Nuclear Threats
13:50 Is China Preparing to Fight...2025-07-0246 min
The World and stuffUS Started Iran’s Nuclear Program, Now Tries to End ItIn this conversation, Drew Petrimoulx interviews Pranay Vaddi, a nuclear weapons expert, discussing his journey from biochemistry and political science to becoming a key figure in nuclear arms control. They explore the complexities of the nuclear fuel cycle, the challenges of weaponization, and the evolution of Iran's nuclear program, including the implications of the JCPOA. The discussion also covers the impact of political changes on nuclear diplomacy, military options versus diplomatic strategies, and the effectiveness of recent military strikes on Iran's nuclear capabilities. Finally, they reflect on the lessons learned regarding nuclear proliferation and the...2025-07-011h 03
Strategic Simplicity PodcastTalking about Our recent FA article on "Nuclear Hurricane," hosted by Heather WilliamsHeather takes the mic to interview Vipin and I. We covered as much ground as we could in discussing our article, but spent most of our time discussing Iran, U.S. nuclear strategy (including why the United States retains a damage limitation objective and how that is complicated by China’s nuclear modernization and expansion), extended deterrence, arms control, nonproliferation, and what we hope people are taking away from this writing.We end with some virtual hugs and talk about our recent experience in government.Follow Heather:* @heatherwilly...2025-07-011h 16
Strategic Simplicity PodcastOperation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear program, and the broader nonpro impacts.Today, I’m joined by Eric Brewer, a Deputy Vice President for the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s Nuclear Materials Security Program and former National Security Council Director for Counterproliferation, and Corey Hinderstein, a vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, overseeing the Technology and International Affairs Program, the Nuclear Policy Program, and the Sustainability, Climate, and Geopolitics Program, and recently she was the acting principal deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration and the deputy administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation. In addition to leading two leading D.C.-based organizations on nuclear policy and nonp...2025-06-241h 04
Strategic Simplicity PodcastThe State of the NPT, arms control odds and ends, and supporting the nuclear youths.We went far and wide into the world of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) with Heather Williams, director of the Project on Nuclear Issues and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In addition to talking about the relevance of the NPT in an era of major power disagreement and nuclear proliferation risks, we discussed hot topics among NPT parties, such as the U.S. nuclear umbrella and (the lack of) progress on nuclear disarmament, what non-nuclear weapons states expect from the United States and nuclear allies like...2025-06-111h 04
Strategic Simplicity PodcastStrategic Simplicity welcomes Shashank Joshi for a newsy chatShashank Joshi is the Defence Editor with The Economist, where he covers intelligence, military affairs, and a wide range of other security issues. He has been following the Russia-Ukraine conflict closely since day one, contributing high quality, deep analysis that’s digestible for casual observers and experts alike (kind of what we’re trying to do with our Substack, but better). We take advantage of Shashank’s patience to cover a whole lot of topics: * the intent behind and focus of the U.K. Strategic Defence Review,* the nuclear elements of the SD...2025-06-051h 01
Strategic Simplicity PodcastFraming a Future Nuclear Force PostureTwo pods in one week, we’re really overworking ourselves (MIT’s semester ended and we are in between trips in writing limbo, so why not). In this episode, Vipin and I talk to Bob Peters, a Senior Research Fellow for Strategic Deterrence at the Heritage Foundation, and John Warden, a former NSC Director for Strategic Stability and Arms Control in the Biden Administration, about a future U.S. nuclear force. After baselining on:* anticipated modernization program costs (including a recent adjustment by the Congressional Budget Office on the ten-year outlook for the nucl...2025-05-221h 05
Strategic Simplicity PodcastEntering "The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon" with author Ankit Panda.We were happy to host Ankit Panda, the Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to discuss his new book: “The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon.” Ankit lays out the features of the new era, including:* allied proliferation and other risks to the nonproliferation regime and norms;* deterrence and strategic stability in a world of endemic technological change; and,* the centrality of nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy to foreign policy and statecraft, among other things.The three of us then disc...2025-05-201h 03
Strategic Simplicity PodcastExtended Deterrence in the Indo-PacificWe welcome Mira Rapp-Hooper, a partner at The Asia Group, political scientist, and the former Senior Director for East Asia and Oceania on President Biden’s NSC, as well as Zack Cooper, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on American strategy in the Indo-Pacific and U.S.-China competition, with earlier stops in a his career in At DoD and the NSC, academia, and think tankery. On today’s pod, the four of us discuss the evolving nuclear landscape in the Indo-Pacific, stresses on U.S. nuclear strategy including extended deterrence in the...2025-05-0655 min
Audio BriefsRevising Missile Controls Is Necessary to Help Allies and Prevent New Nuclear StatesAn audio version of “Revising Missile Controls Is Necessary to Help Allies and Prevent New Nuclear States,” a new commentary by CSIS's Pranay Vaddi with Ola Craft. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.2025-05-0519 min
ChinaTalkWill Everyone Get Nukes Now?What is Trump doing to extended deterrence?
I got Polymarket to create a market on whether a US ally will acquire nuclear weapons in 2025. It’s currently trading at 8%. Are we buyers or sellers?
To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Vipin Narang, professor at MIT, who served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for nuclear deterrence policy during the Biden administration; Pranay Vaddi, a senior fellow at the Center for Nuclear Security Policy at MIT who worked on arms control and non-proliferation on Biden’s National Security Council; and Junichi Fukuda, senior research fellow at Tokyo’s Sasa...2025-04-301h 17ChinaTalkWill Everyone Get Nukes Now?What is Trump doing to extended deterrence?
I got Polymarket to create a market on whether a US ally will acquire nuclear weapons in 2025. It’s currently trading at 8%. Are we buyers or sellers?
To discuss, ChinaTalk interviewed Vipin Narang, professor at MIT, who served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for nuclear deterrence policy during the Biden administration; Pranay Vaddi, a senior fellow at the Center for Nuclear Security Policy at MIT who worked on arms control and non-proliferation on Biden’s National Security Council; and Junichi Fukuda, senior research fellow at Tokyo’s Sasa...2025-04-301h 17
Strategic Simplicity PodcastEuro Deterrent, Part Deux: The Podcast EditionA brief outline of the various topics we cover, as we really went all over the map, with timestamps:3m 30s: A little history on the UK and French nuclear strategies dating back to the Cold War, and interactions with U.S. extended nuclear deterrence.6m 00s: The absence of limited nuclear options among our nuclear allies in Europe, and the “religion” of escalation management.14m 00s: The varied challenges of Central Deterrence, Extended Deterrence, and Assurance; the importance of extended nuclear deterrence software and transparency in nuclear strategy for the holder of a nu...2025-04-0353 min
Arms Control WonkTusk Muses About France’s Force De FrappeDonald Tusk — not the indulgent follow up to the perfect Fleetwood Mac Album Rumours — mused recently about the future of deterrence in Europe. The discussion reminds of the challenges of extended deterrence, the oh so very French debate about nuclear weapons and European security, and the vibe shift that has raised questions about the future US security guarantee. Links of Note: Building a Euro Deterrent: Easier Said Than Done, by Pranay Vaddi and Vipin Narang https://open.substack.com/pub/strategicsimplicity/p/building-a-euro-deterrent-easier?r=1l9z0c&utm_medium=ios Sup...2025-03-2142 min
Super Critical PodcastEpisode #39: Amazing Grace And ChuckIn this episode, we lived #ShootYourShot and watched the movie Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) where an NBA legend joins forces with a little league player to protest nuclear weapons. Could a child’s peaceful act of resistance against nuclear war inspire the world to Global Zero? What is the history of anti-nuclear weapon movements in the 1980s? If your chartered jet is exploded by an evil nuclear illuminate, is that technically a traveling violation? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and Pranay Vaddi (@PranayVaddi), a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, answer these questions and more.
Before we assemble our Dr...2019-08-121h 58
The World UnpackedArms Control Meets PoliticsIn the darkest days of the Cold War, the United States and Soviet Union created, together, a way to control nuclear weapons. As the President Trump withdraws from the hallmark INF treaty and other agreements teeter on the brink, that system is on life support. How did we get here? Jen Psaki talks to Pranay Vaddi and Connor O'Brien about how to save arms control.
2019-08-0140 min