News

News
Filter:
Show Hide
Ex: author name, topic, etc.
Ex: author name, topic, etc.
By Topic
Show Hide
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
By Region
Show Hide
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
  • Expanded
By Type
Show Hide
By date
Show Hide
Scott D. Sagan
Commentary

Putin’s Unconstrained Power Over Russia’s Nuclear Arsenal. Putin has turned his government into a personalist regime: a system in which he monopolizes meaningful authority.

Over the July 4 weekend, the Russian-based cybercriminal organization REvil claimed credit for hacking into as many as 1,500 companies. In May, another cybercriminal group, DarkSide shut down most of the operations of Colonial Pipeline. These incidents were bad enough.

After years of researching American public opinion on the use of nuclear weapons and the ethics, we found the levels of public support for a strike that violated ethical and legal principles to be deeply troubling. We proposed that future research focus on interventions that might blunt these disturbing instincts of the American public.

Every year, in early August, new articles appear that debate whether the dropping of the atomic bombs in 1945 was justified. Earlier this month, the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks, was no exception.

The Bulletin hosted a global webinar featuring Scott Sagan, Bulletin SASB member and Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University; Allen Weiner, director of the Stanford Program in International and Comparative Law; led by Sara Kutchesfahani, director of N Square DC Hub.

The archival record makes clear that killing large numbers of civilians was the primary purpose of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The attack would be illegal today for violating three major requirements of the Geneva Conventions: the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution.