Rebeccah Heinrichs

This article was co-authored by Prof. Rebeccah Heinrichs, who teaches IWP’s course on Nuclear Deterrence and Arms Control. Nuclear illiteracy has grown since the end of the Cold War. Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling directed at NATO while it continues its war against Ukraine has brought nuclear weapons back into public consciousness. Tom Nichols, author of the Death of…

In Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, momentum is with Ukraine. The United States must lead an effort to immediately give President Volodymyr Zelensky everything he needs to strike a serious blow against Russian forces to drive them back and force Putin to terminate this war. Read more at New York Post

The Biden administration is right to try to avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia, but their confrontation avoidance has made the White House dangerously and unreasonably risk-averse. The effect of President Joe Biden’s intense risk aversion cedes the advantage in any intense crisis to the party prepared to threaten escalation — in this case,…

Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Beijing Olympics. In a joint statement, the two said that “friendship between the two states has no limits” and “there are no forbidden areas of cooperation.” The statement was striking for its clarity, but it should not come as a surprise. The systematic interplay between Russia…

Libertarians on the right and progressives on the left cooperated to try to defeat an effort to replenish the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) of critical defenses. But Congress remained unconvinced of their objections and rightly approved of the weapons sale. The argument often focused on the technical abilities of the weapons themselves, but objections based…

For decades, Moscow has sought to weaken the United States by sowing discord among Americans and undermining public trust in democracy. But the past few years have given Russian mischief-makers the biggest return on investment since the Cold War. And contrary to the ubiquitous narrative blasted across the media wires nightly, Donald Trump and his…

Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and . . . Xi Jinping? Five years ago, China’s Communist Party bestowed on Xi the title of “core” leader, placing the president on the trajectory to reach the level of strongmen Mao and Deng. If Xi delivers an expected resolution Thursday that grants him official, total and indefinite rule without…

The Missile Defense Agency’s budget request is the same today as it was in 2008. That has to change, says Rebeccah Heinrichs. OPINION: Over the last two decades, the number of missiles threatening the United States have increased, the technical proficiency of enemy missiles has increased, the responsibilities of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have increased, the…

Despite four years of sustained hysterics about the supposed Russian-compromised nature of his presidency, Donald Trump’s administration carried out a variety of policies to shore up Europe’s eastern flank, bolster U.S. military strength relative to Russia’s, and weaken Russia’s coercive power generally. Yet six months into President Joe Biden’s term, we’ve seen the opposite effect: The sources…

To successfully maintain the relative peace the United States has enjoyed for decades, we must consider what would convince adversaries that we would make them regret attacking a vital interest. Deterrence is an art, not a science, and it takes a clear eyed assessment of a variety of factors that will be varied from the…