Berkley Center

The Biden administration came into office aspiring to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. national security. President Joe Biden quickly renewed New START and committed to strategic stability talks with the Russian Federation. However, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons, Biden withdrew from those talks. The quadrennial nuclear posture review has yet to appear, but in the wake of the Ukraine war, opportunities for advancing the nuclear disarmament agenda seem vastly diminished.

In this webinar, James McKeon of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Shannon Bugos of the Arms Control Association, and Maryann Cusimano Love of the Catholic University of America joined Berkley Center Senior Fellow Rev. Drew Christiansen, S.J., to explore the possible contours of the Biden administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. Panelists discussed the following questions: What can we expect in the Nuclear Posture Review after Ukraine? Following Putin’s nuclear threats, can we expect a redesign of U.S. nuclear strategy? What steps toward disarmament are still possible? Will there be efforts to reinstitute abandoned agreements like the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty? What will happen to proposals for a sole use doctrine?

This event was hosted by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University in partnership with:

• University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, part of the Keough School of Global Affairs
• The Catholic Peacebuilding Network
• Fordham University's Center on Religion and Culture
• Northwestern University's Sheil Catholic Center
• Catholic University of America’s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies

This is one in a series of initiatives of the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament.