In January 2021, the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force, finally making nuclear weapons illegal under international law. This report examines the policies of the largest Australian superannuation funds, highlighting their investments in companies involved in nuclear weapons development...

Australia’s decision to join with the United States and the United Kingdom to build Australian long-range nuclear-powered submarines has little to do with the defence of Australia, writes Allan Behm.

In this report, the author analyses the different scenarios that could trigger a nuclear war in the Taiwan strait and how it can be avoided.

As the prospect of high-intensity military conflict in the Indo-Pacific becomes more likely, Beijing, Washington and Canberra will need to manage nuclear risks more proactively.

This paper analyses international perspectives on space weapons and the weaponisation of space, focusing relatively more on countries other than the United States, Russia, and China.

Nuclear deterrence theory, with its roots in the Cold War era, may not account for all eventualities in the 21st century. Researchers at Chatham House have worked with eight experts to produce this collection of essays examining four contested themes in contemporary policymaking on deterrence.

While few Australian policymakers have engaged with nuclear strategy in recent decades, this paper suggests that there is a growing realisation amongst the country’s foreign affairs and defence community that nuclear deterrence will become more relevant for Australian defence policy.

The articles in this volume cover critical nuclear issues which are increasingly occupying the minds of Australia’s best policy and intelligence thinkers.

The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has conducted the international treaty examination of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and recommends that the House take note of its report.

Now that North Korea has finally reached the threshold of a nuclear missile capability to directly threaten the US mainland, its scripted brand of hyperbole and brinksmanship is encountering a different sort of melodrama - the political theatre of Donald Trump.

This overview of the Iran nuclear deal provides a basic overview of what is involved and outlines Australia's policy position.

Overview Myanmar has made a nonproliferation U-turn in recent years. Once regarded as a pariah state with connections to North Korea and possible nuclear-weapon ambitions, it has completely changed course. In the context of sweeping political and economic reforms that began in 2011, Myanmar has...

In this Lowy Institute Analysis, Brendan Thomas-Noone argues that advances in technology are making tactical nuclear weapons more precise and potentially more usable. He argues that new arms control measures are needed to promote greater transparency about the development of these weapons. Key findings The...

The Asian nuclear order is increasingly coloured by complexity and instability. It’s an order that’s still largely shaped by subregional drivers, national priorities and a code of voluntary restraint rather than by any region-wide ‘managed system’. But geopolitical and technological shifts are pulling the order...

Within the frame of the Indo-US Nuclear Agreement, China’s blocking of India’s NSG membership in tandem with its encircling of India both physically, and with investments across South Asia, raise questions.

Is Australia's reliance on nuclear defence agreements keeping us on the wrong side of history?

This report examines the implications of sea-based nuclear weapons for strategic stability in the Indo-Pacific. This paper is part of a wider research and outreach project on nuclear stability in a changing Indo-Pacific Asia, supported by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T...

The US appears to be losing the trust it once enjoyed in Saudi Arabia, as a result of the nuclear deal with Iran.

This paper examines the issue of nuclear latency (the potential for countries to obtain nuclear weapons capability) by focusing on the cases of the Republic of Korea and Japan, then looks at what Australia should do. Overview Since the 1946 ‘Report on the International Control...

In this Lowy Institute Analysis Rodger Shanahan examines changes in Iranian foreign policy under President Rouhani. He argues that while the Iranian President has changed the tone of Iranian foreign policy, changing the substance will prove much more difficult. Key findings Rouhani is a centrist...

This report argues that if Iran's nuclear programme was peaceful, it would have invested solely in nuclear power infrastructure, rather than creating large stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union and the United States stood on the brink of nuclear war. The Communist Party leadership in Moscow was convinced that Washington was about to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike, which would require a massive nuclear response.

This paper addresses the many barriers to including tactical nuclear weapons in disarmament talks. It considers the difficulty of bringing other emerging powers such as China into the nuclear arms control equation. The study proposes a new arms control treaty that would ban outright the...

Introduction Desmond Ball’s labours through four decades to elucidate the character of United States defence and intelligence facilities in Australia, to document the evidence, test the balance of benefits and dangers to both national security and human security, and then tell the story to his...

The stand-off on Iran’s nuclear program has reached a new crescendo this week after President Obama’s speech to the powerful Jewish lobbying group the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) at its policy conference on 4 March 2012.