Ploughshares Fund Blog

It's not easy to know how much our nation pays for our nuclear weapons programs. There is no official nuclear weapons budget. Instead, government spending accounts are often opaque, poorly defined and always spread out over several government agencies. But, as we debate appropriate levels of defense spending, Ploughshares Fund believes that it's important to get a sense of what the overall nuclear budget looks like. Read more »

Mike Breen is the kind of guy you want to talk to about serious issues. A veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and a graduate of Yale Law School, his warm easy style makes it easy to understand complex national security policy issues. Good thing that Breen is the Vice President of the Truman National Security Project, a dynamic group in Washington, DC founded to encourage veterans to speak out on security issues. After a terrific event hosted by Chronicle Books, Breen sat down with Ploughshares Fund to talk about Iran - one of the hottest foreign policy issues today.  Read more »

Governor Mitt Romney's description, caught on video, of what he considered the real nuclear threat from Iran has further undermined his national security credentials, showing a fundamental misunderstanding of nuclear threats. Iran's nuclear program has nothing to do with dirty bombs. Terrorists would not use uranium -- from Iran or anywhere else -- in a dirty bomb. It is unclear if Gov. Romney was just riffing, or if his advisors had fed him this line of attack. Read more »

Chris Stevens and three American colleagues from the U.S. mission in Libya were killed by a mob yesterday. The first American governmental deaths in the Arab world since the Arab Spring began less than two years ago, their deaths should be a clarion call to our country about the risks that those who serve our country abroad take. And Chris’ example of religious tolerance, support for freedom, and belief in democracy should be followed in the days ahead, as we respond to this tragedy. Read more »