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JOIN US AT THE CENTER’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE: $1 TRILLION AND COUNTING: THE PENTAGON BUDGET SQUEEZING OUR REAL SECURITY You are invited to attend the Council’s sister organization’s annual conference online September 15 from 5–7:15 p.m. Eastern. This year’s topic is: “$1 Trillion and Counting: The Pentagon Budget Squeezing Our Real Security.” Our fantastic lineup of speakers and panelists will seek to answer one critical question: How should Pentagon spending, including for nuclear weapons, best be structured to provide actual security? Our panels will cover topics including missile defense, space weapons and the true costs of war. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA-17) will provide a keynote address. Register now to join us and the livestream link will be emailed to you in the days leading up to the event. |
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AFTER TURNING THE WAR AROUND ON ITS OWN, UKRAINE NEEDS SUPPORT Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange missile and drone strikes four-and-a-half years into Russia’s invasion. In a recent post for the Center’s Nukes of Hazard blog, Senior Policy Director John Erath writes that while Ukraine has quietly been turning its prospects around in its war with Russia possibly due to U.S. focus on Iran, it’s time for the United States and NATO to reengage by managing Russia. “While continuing to message that any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, NATO leaders should also signal that they do not seek regime change in Moscow or dismemberment of the Russian state,” he writes. “Russians remember what they were taught of 1917 and fear military defeat that could endanger the existence of the state. By underlining that loss of the occupied areas of Ukraine will not lead to further territorial diminishment of Russian lands, NATO leaders not only open a way to end the war but reduce the possibility that nuclear weapons might be used.” |
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TRUMP THREATENS U.S. PARTNERS AS WAR OF CHOICE WITH IRAN CONTINUES As the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the United States and Iran to end the war and reach an accord on Iran’s nuclear program expires, negotiations remain halted with no talks scheduled for the foreseeable future. This does not, however, mean that the conflict has gone quiet. We continue to see variable responses from regional neighbors. The United Arab Emirates has announced the suspension of all trade with Iran “until further notice” after two ballistic missiles that were “targeting maritime navigation” fell into the sea. At the same time, it appears that Oman is engaging Iran on the potential establishment of “a new shipping route map for the Strait of Hormuz.” In response to this cooperation, President Trump threatened to attack Oman, a historic U.S. partner, if it interferes with U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. In an interview with Fox News, President Trump said, “If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the [expletive] out of them.” In an August 19 Truth Social post, President Trump threatened that the United States will launch the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country” against Iran and threatened severe financial penalties on any nation that helps Tehran evade sanctions, sharing “ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or governments to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences.”
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HOW CONGRESS CAN UPHOLD NON-PROLIFERATION NORMS IN SAUDI DEAL In late July, the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced the conclusion of a civil nuclear cooperation agreement to permit U.S. companies to sell sensitive nuclear technologies to the Kingdom. Riyadh has long sought a deal with the United States to kick-start a nuclear energy program, but previous attempts have failed due to proliferation concerns and a desire to tie cooperation to normalization with Israel. Although the administration has yet to publicly release the details of the deal, initial reports indicate that it will not maintain the “gold standard” for non-proliferation as set out in a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE); namely it will not include a prohibition on enrichment and reprocessing and will not require the Kingdom to bring into force an Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure the most robust oversight of its nuclear facilities. After the deal was announced, President Trump posted on social media that finalization of the deal rested on Saudi Arabia’s joining the Abraham Accords and normalizing relations with Israel, a stipulation that seemingly took Saudi negotiators by surprise. Since then, the deal has been in legal limbo. U.S. law requires finalized nuclear cooperation agreements to be submitted for congressional review for a period of 90 days. It is unclear if the administration has yet transmitted the deal to Congress per statute, or if it intends to before the clock runs out this year. Research Analyst Conor Donlevy wrote in the Center’s Nukes of Hazard blog about the dangers of nuclear proliferation associated with developing nuclear energy programs and the need for congressional engagement to uphold U.S. non-proliferation obligations. “Given the current proliferation-friendly global climate, it is critical that Congress holds each of these agreements to the highest standard, especially those negotiated with nations with expressed desires to obtain nuclear weapons capability, such as Saudi Arabia,” he writes. |
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TRUMP ORDERS SCALEBACK OF JOINT SOUTH KOREA EXERCISES; KIM STILL FIRES MISSILE BARRAGE President Trump directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to scale down significantly U.S. participation in joint military exercises with South Korea, prompting concerns from lawmakers in both countries about continued U.S. commitment to mutual defense. The move was likely intended as an olive branch to North Korean dictator Kim Jon Un, with whom Trump boasts a close relationship. Despite this intention, North Korea responded harshly to the joint drills, launching a barrage of about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea between South Korea and Japan. North Korean officials stated that the country had not changed its position on the provocative nature of the joint exercises, essentially ignoring Trump’s directive to scale down U.S. participation. They also rejected Trump’s claim that Kim responded to a request to restart dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang. It seems likely that North Korea seeks further concessions before reengaging in diplomacy with President Trump, implying that Kim feels more emboldened in Trump’s second term to exercise perceived leverage. |
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NEW FILM ABOUT REAGAN-GORBACHEV NUCLEAR SUMMIT SHOWCASES COMPLEXITIES OF NEGOTIATIONS A new film out in theaters now, The Brink of War, is about the October 1986 nuclear summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev that ultimately led to major reductions in the global nuclear arsenal. The film starring Jeff Daniels, Jared Harris and J.K. Simmons depicts this meeting with the A-list actors sitting in the same house and in the same chairs, with the same art on the walls, reciting excerpts from the actual transcribed conversations. Program Coordinator Emma Sandifer got to see a pre-release screening of the film featuring the filmmaker and one of the producers and, in her latest post for the Center’s Nukes of Hazard blog, writes about the lessons the film — and the summit it was based on — offer for us today: the importance of dialogue, verification and subject-matter experts. This issue is personal to Daniels, who plays Reagan: as he writes in the Los Angeles Times, he grew up doing duck-and-cover drills and lived in fear of nuclear war until “something unimaginable happened in a small white house on the edge of the North Atlantic that would change the course of history.” He hopes this film will spark renewed energy for nuclear arms control conversations. “To avert disaster, we must start talking to one another,” he writes. “Dialogue is not weakness. It does not mean agreement, endorsement or surrender. Rather, it is a safeguard for our future, the first step in finding a path forward that will make this planet we share safer for all of us. As the former president said: ‘A nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought.'” |
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MASSIVE PENTAGON SPENDING REQUEST FACES HURDLES IN CONGRESS The House of Representatives passed its version of the FY27 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on July 22, in a narrow 216-212 vote just before heading into recess. As Congress prepares to return from its August recess in September, the path forward for the FY27 NDAA requires navigating critical procedural deadlines, a major stopgap funding fight and gridlocked Senate negotiations. In addition to the NDAA, Congress must also address the September 30 funding deadline. Both chambers have already passed versions of a temporary Continuing Resolution (CR). The CR would allow the Department of Defense to continue operating at the previous year’s funding levels while negotiations continue on the NDAA and defense spending bills. Senate Democrats blocked the NDAA before the recess over concerns regarding Pentagon spending growth and the ongoing war with Iran. The House and Senate Armed Services Committees will begin informal conferencing to hammer out differences between the two bills shortly before the two chambers return to session in September to attempt to find a compromise piece of legislation that can overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate. Lurking behind all of this is the White House’s additional $350 billion mandatory defense reconciliation request. There are not many legislative days left before government funding runs out and Congress recesses again to allow Members to campaign in the midterm elections. It remains to be seen what progress can be made on issues of Pentagon spending and if this will finally be the year Congress breaks its 60-plus year streak of passing the NDAA on time. |
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SENIOR PENTAGON OFFICIAL HINTS AT TRUMP NUCLEAR PRIORITIES U.S. Strategic Command hosted its annual “Deterrence Symposium” in Omaha, Nebraska, in early August. This event regularly brings together leading civil society and military leaders. This year’s theme was “Peace Through Strength: Turning Defense Strategy into Decisive Deterrence Action.” The most notable portion of the symposium came when Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby gave remarks on the Pentagon’s view of ongoing modernization efforts and a sneak peek into the conclusions of an ongoing informal nuclear posture review conducted by the Trump administration. Colby praised ongoing nuclear modernization as “the single most important initiative for the American military” and stressed the need to provide the President with “credible, rational nuclear options” to manage escalation. Colby’s references to expanding the President’s “options” and increasing the credibility of nuclear employment strongly imply that the findings of this mini-posture review will suggest the United States must develop new non-strategic nuclear weapons to ensure deterrence and provide the ability to respond in kind in the event China or Russia employs a tactical nuclear weapon. Colby did not answer questions from skeptics of a nuclear buildup, so we have little to evaluate his remarks against. |
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GUAMANIAN HOUSE DELEGATE SEEKS TO EXPAND RECA Congressman James Moylan (R-Guam) this week introduced the Radiation Exposure Compensation Reauthorization Act of 2026 (RECRA). RECRA boasts bipartisan co-sponsors and would expand Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) coverage for victims of U.S. nuclear testing in Guam and other areas. The legislation also extends the filing deadline for RECA claims by 15 years, increases the compensation amount and broadens the list of eligible diseases covered. In addition to Moylan, the legislation has nine Democratic co-sponsors and one Republican co-sponsor. The legislation may be attached to the annual defense authorization bill or could move on its own during the lame duck session of Congress after the midterms. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, patrons gathered in an Alamogordo theater to watch a post-RECA update to the 2023 documentary, “First We Bombed New Mexico” alongside elected officials and hopefuls. It’s been one year since RECA was expanded to include those harmed by the first nuclear test. |
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PROGRESSIVE MOMENTUM AND REFLECTIONS FROM THE CLW POLITICAL TEAM We are rapidly nearing the end of the midterm primary season. New results continue to favor a change in the House majority while the Senate remains much less certain. Council endorsed challenger Rebecca Cooke (D-WI-03) recently won her primary and has her eyes set on replacing conservative hothead Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R). Council for a Livable World continues to field significant interest from candidates. Be on the lookout for additional candidate announcements as we enter the final stretch before Election Day. Polls close in 73 days. For the next 2 months, we’ll list all of our endorsed candidates at the bottom of this newsletter along with their bios and donation links. If you’d like to donate to more than one House candidate or more than one Senate candidate, or donate to one or more candidates in each chamber, bookmark these links, which we’ll update through November every time we make a new endorsement: all endorsed House candidates | all endorsed Senate candidates | all endorsed candidates. |
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CONSIDER BECOMING A MONTHLY DONOR Though election season is now upon us, the Council remains hard at work on its advocacy on Capitol Hill. Have you considered making a monthly donation to support our efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear risks through political action? You can donate as little as $1 a month. Become a monthly supporter today! |
