Rebuttal: Current nuclear weapons policy not safe or sane

It is hard to overstate the importance of nuclear weapons policies, for any nuclear use would have catastrophic consequences. Discussion of these policies, however, is often hampered as they are held within silos. In a February 2022 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, we critiqued one example of messaging within one such silo, the US defense establishment. We focused our critique on the book, Guide to Nuclear Deterrence in the Age of Great-Power Competition, published by the Louisiana Tech Research Institute. Our article prompted a robust response in the Bulletin by Adam Lowther, a political scientist at the Army Management Staff College at Ft. Leavenworth and editor of this guide. We are pleased our article prompted a discussion between those who promote arms control or disarmament—and those who do not.