NC3 Systems and Strategic Stability

Outlining the global effects of nuclear modernization and advanced technologies.

Nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3) systems urgently require modernization. How will advanced technologies impact NC3, what emergent properties can we anticipate, and where are collaborative opportunities? The very nature of NC3 faces urgent challenges, but there has been no unclassified benchmarking since the 1980s of what the recent USSTRATCOM Commander calls the “fourth leg of the triad.” 

To address this gap and the emerging issues associated with the modernization of global NC3 systems, we hosted two days of multi-sector discussions at the Hoover Institution on January 22-23, 2019. Participants were a cross-section of specialist fields who would otherwise not typically converge, including nuclear, political, history, law, engineering, computer science, security, and more. The gathering sought to identify pathways and approaches to the challenges of NC3 from different perspectives. The workshop was convened by the the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability, the Institute for Security and Technology, and the Preventive Defense Project (Stanford University), conducted under the operating protocols of the Chatham House rule.

In partnership with Nautilus – whose leader Peter Hayes has been the driving force behind this initiative since the outset – we released over 25 reports (with accompanying podcast interviews) based on the discussions held during the workshop. Take a look below and get in touch with your questions, comments, and ideas at [email protected].

From our Library

Reports

NC3 Systems and Strategic Stability: A Global Overview

Institute for Security and Technology, Nautilus Institute

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Reports

NC3 in a Multipolar Nuclear World: Big Structures and Large Processes

Paul Bracken

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Podcasts

Grand Tactics and the Thin Skin of Civilization

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. Paul Bracken

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Reports

U.S. Nuclear Command and Control for the 21st Century

John Harvey

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Podcasts

The System Can’t Be Perfect

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. John Harvey

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Reports

Security at Extreme Scales

Eric Grosse

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Podcasts

Complexity Is The Enemy of Security

Philip Reiner with Eric Grosse

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Reports

DPRK’s NC3 System

Myeongguk Cheon

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Reports

France: Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications

Benoît Pelopidas

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Reports

Turkey and Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications

Can Kasapoglu

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Reports

An Examination of the US NC3 Industrial and Innovation Base

Elvert Gardner

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Reports

Cyber Operations and Nuclear Weapons

Jon Lindsay

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Podcasts

Is the Enemy in the System?

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. Jon Lindsay

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Reports

Russia’s NC3 and Early Warning Systems

Leonid Ryabikhin

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Reports

Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Systems of the People’s Republic of China

Fiona S. Cunningham

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Podcasts

Deterred by the Uncertainties

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Fiona Cunningham

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Reports

An Engineering Perspective on Avoiding Inadvertent Nuclear War

Nancy Leveson

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Podcasts

The Curse of Flexibility

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Nancy Leveson

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Reports

Command and Control of Nuclear Weapons in India

M.V. Ramana, Lauren J. Borja

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Reports

Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications: U.S. Country Profile

Jeffrey Larsen

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Reports

The Non-State Dimensions of Nuclear Command, Control, Communications

Gary A. Ackerman

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Reports

NC3 Decision Making: Individual Versus Group Process

Alex Wellerstein

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Podcasts

Questioning Unitary Command: Nuclear Launch Authority and the N-Person Problem

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. Alex Wellerstein

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Reports

Emerging Technologies, Emerging Challenges – The Potential Employment of New Technologies in Future PLA NC3

Elsa B. Kania

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Podcasts

China, Technology, and the Security Dilemma

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Elsa B. Kania

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Podcasts

United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapon, Command, Control, and Communications

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Rear Admiral John Gower

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Reports

United Kingdom: Nuclear Weapons Command, Control, Communications

Rear Admiral John Gower

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Reports

Innovation and Adaptive Control in America’s Electric Infrastructure: Parallels to NC3

Mason Willrich

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Reports

Israel’s NC3 Profile: Opaque Nuclear Governance

Avner Cohen

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Podcasts

Elements of Caution and Prudence

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Avner Cohen

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Reports

Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3): The Case of Pakistan

Feroz Hassan Khan

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Podcasts

An Altogether Different Set of Challenges

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Feroz Hassan Khan

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Reports

NC3 and Crisis Instability – Growing Dangers in the 21st Century

Daryl Press

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Podcasts

The End of Survivability

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Daryl Press

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Reports

A New Framework for Thinking about Regional NC3

Vipin Narang

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Podcasts

When and Why Cede Nuclear Authority

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. Vipin Narang

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Reports

What Do We Want From the Nuclear Command and Control System

Paul Davis

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Podcasts

Starting From The Beginning

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Paul Davis

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Reports

Law, Targeting and Nuclear Weapons

William H. Boothby

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Podcasts

Are All Legal Bets Off?

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with William H. Boothby

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Reports

Counter Nuclear Command, Control and Communications

Carol Ann Jones

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Reports

NC3 Insider Threats

Dr. Ronald Schouten

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Podcasts

NC3 Threats: Insider Edition

Philip Reiner and Peter Hayes with Dr. Ronald Schouten

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Reports

For Better or for Worse: The Future of C3I Entanglement

Dr. James Acton

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Podcasts

NC3, Entanglement, and the Inadvertent Risk of Nuclear War

Philip Reiner with Dr. James Acton

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