The End of MAD? Technological Innovation and the Future of Nuclear Retaliatory Capabilities 

Charles Glaser | Center for Nuclear Security Policy

October 24, 2025

Event Flyer

The Center for Nuclear Security Policy and SSP's Senior Fellow, Charles Glaser, will be hosting a panel to present a set of papers designed to explore the technological competition between nuclear retaliatory capabilities and damage-limitation capabilities. 

 

 

 

 

 

The End of MAD?

Technological Innovation and the Future of Nuclear Retaliatory Capabilities

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2025

Register to attend: https://t.co/2BMR4RqIIm 

 

This conference presents a set of papers designed to explore the technological competition between nuclear retaliatory capabilities and damage-limitation capabilities. The project is motivated by recent research that suggests the prospects for meaningful damage limitation are increasing. These papers were published in a special issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies.


9:00 Framing the Project                    Charles Glaser – SSP/CNSP

9:15  Panel 1

  • Emerging Technologies and Challenges to Nuclear Stability
    • Steve Fetter – University of Maryland
    • Jaganath Sankaran – University of Texas
  • Tracking Mobile Missiles
    • TD MacDonald – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

10:45   Break

11:00   Panel 2

  • Undersea Nuclear Forces: Survivability of Chinese, Russian, and US SSBNs
    • Tom Stefanick – Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings
  • Do Technology Advances Allow Missile Defense To Make Up Ground?
    • Laura Grego – Union of Concerned Scientists

12:30   Lunch

1:45 Panel 3

  • The Survivability of Nuclear Command-and-Control Capabilities
    • James Acton – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • China’s Test of the Nuclear Revolution: Technology, Great Power Competition and the Nuclear Balance
    • Fiona Cunningham – University of Pennsylvania

3:15 Brief Concluding Remarks         Charles Glaser