Ploughshares Blog: Joe Cirincione

Newspapers today are abuzz with a new announcement from Iran claiming advances in its nuclear program. Against the backdrop of continued talk of military strikes, what does this announcement mean? President Joe Cirincione explains in two tweets.  Read more »
Posted by admin on February 15, 2012
When U.S. President Barack Obama took to the podium during a rare visit to the Pentagon early last month, he announced a new strategy for the country's military posture abroad. The United States would shift from being able to fight two major wars simultaneously to increasing its focus on Asia. But the president also explained that reductions in the U.S. nuclear arsenal would be key to future defense: "We will continue to get rid of outdated Cold War-era systems," he said, "so that we can invest in the capabilities we need for the future." Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on February 2, 2012
The Iraq War is the greatest strategic blunder in American history. It cost our nation $1 trillion, the lives of thousands of our finest warriors, and our international credibility. It made defeating al-Qaeda harder, stopping Iran more difficult, and global security more precarious. It was not, as some now say, simply the fault of bad intelligence. Our senior officials willfully and systematically misled the American people and our closest allies on the most crucial question any government faces: Must we go to war? Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on December 15, 2011
There is no official number that tells American citizens how much our government is spending on nuclear weapons. In fact, we are not even precisely sure how many nuclear weapons we have. Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on November 30, 2011
The IAEA released a much-anticipated report yesterday on the status of Iran’s nuclear program publically calling out proof of that country’s weaponization activities. But, as many experts and journalists are reporting, the evidence, while disturbing, is neither new nor conclusive. Read more »
Posted by admin on November 9, 2011
As a candidate, Barack Obama distinguished himself by his anti-war stance. It was a popular move in a nation that was fatigued by a multi-year conflict with no clear end in sight. Today, President Obama has annouced the end to the war he campaigned against, keeping a major promise and opening up a new opportunity for new beginnings in both nations.  Read more »
Posted by Margaret Swink on October 21, 2011
The following originally appeared as a post on The Atlantic Politics. As the congressional "supercommittee" moves toward recommendations to cut over $1 trillion from the government's budgets, House members have squared off over whether some savings can come from the hundreds of billions of dollars planned for nuclear weapons over the next 10 years. Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on October 13, 2011
The era of unlimited military spending is clearly over. With a huge focus on cutting the budget in all areas of federal spending, 64 Members of Congress are joining forces to highlight the nuclear weapons budget as a prime place for cuts. Read more »
Posted on October 11, 2011
I’m thrilled to introduce Philip Yun as Ploughshares Fund’s new Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer. Philip has the talent, the drive and the know-how to help lead Ploughshares Fund to new levels of achievement. As many know, after fourteen years of outstanding leadership, our Executive Director Naila Bolus decided to leave this year to become the president of Jumpstart, an early education organization based in Boston. I joined Ploughshares Fund because of Naila. There is no one who could fill her shoes in exactly the same way.  Read more »
Posted by Joe Cirincione on September 15, 2011
Like many around the world, we're heartened to see the people of Syria and Libya stand up and take back their political rights from dictatorial regimes. As the two nations reach for democracy, however, we can't lose sight of the fact that the they've both been stockpiling weapons of mass destruction for years. Read more »
Posted by admin on September 1, 2011