Joseph Cirincione

Joseph Cirincione is president of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. He is also the host of Press The Button, a weekly podcast from Ploughshares Fund dedicated to nuclear policy and national security. A new episode is available every Tuesday.

Cirincione is the author of the books Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons and Deadly Arsenals: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Threats. He has worked on nuclear weapons policy in Washington for over 35 years and is considered one of the top experts in the field. He served previously as vice president for national security at the Center for American Progress, director for non-proliferation at Carnegie Endowment, and senior associate at Stimson. He worked for nine years as professional staff on the U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Armed Services and Government Operations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a former member of the International Security Advisory Board for Secretaries of State John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. He also teaches at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service.

Cirincione's commentary has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, CNN, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Financial Times, Kyodo News, Moscow Times, Foreign Policy, The Hill, Daily Beast, and Huffington Post.

Recent Publications

• For Once, Trump Should Listen to Putin, Inkstick Media, December 10, 2019.
• No President Should Have the Absolute Authority to Launch Nuclear Weapons, The Washington Post, December 1, 2019.
• Happy Birthday, Nuclear Arms Race, Defense One, August 29, 2019. 
• Trump is Misleading America Into a New War, LobeLog, June 19, 2019. 
• The Path to War with Iran Is Paved with Sanctions, LobeLog, April 23, 2019.
• A new, hopeful moment for US nuclear policy, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 17, 2019. 
• The Hanoi Summit - We Asked Joe Cirincione What Happens Next in U.S.-North Korea Relations, The National Interest, March 12, 2019. 
• Tragedy In Hanoi, LobeLog, March 6, 2019. 
• The Trump-Kim Summit Is Diplomacy. Democrats Should Support It., Defense One, February 25, 2019.  
• Why Democrats are pushing for a new nuclear policy, The Hill, February 12, 2019. 
• The Doomsday Clock is ticking. How can we turn it back?, Tennessean, February 8, 2019. 
• North Korea and America's Second Summit: Here's What Joe Cirincione and Catherine Killough Think Will Happen, The National Interest, February 6, 2019. 
• John Bolton is a serial arms control killer, The Washington Post, February 1, 2019. 
• Donald Trump's Mission Impossible: Making His Unrealistic Missile Plan Work, The National Interest, January 17, 2019.  
• Bolton's Big Iran Con, Defense One, January 12, 2019. 
• The Biggest Nuclear Threats of 2018 Will Follow Us into the New Year, Defense One, December 29, 2018. 
• Our North Korea Prediction for 2019, co-authored with Catherine Killough, The National Interest, December 18, 2018.
• Will the Saudis drag us into war with Iran?, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 24, 2018. 
• A Serial Killing Spree That Threatens Us All, Defense One, October 22, 2018.   
• Trump's March to War with Iran, LobeLog, October 4, 2018. 
• John McCain, Nuclear Disarmament, and What Might Have Been, Defense One, August 29, 2018. 
• Dystrumpia: Donald Trump's Dark Future Now, LobeLog, July 16, 2018.
• A No-Cost, No-Brainer of a Nuclear Deal, Defense One, July 10, 2018. 
• Happy 50th Birthday to the NPT Nuclear Treaty, Defense One, July 2, 2018.
• The Surreal Summit in Singapore, The National Interest, June 13, 2018.
• Progressives Need a New Way to Talk About National Security, The Nation, May 11, 2018.
• Opinion | Broken bromance: Macron’s mission to save the Iran deal seems to have failed, NBC News, April 30, 2018.
• Pompeo's Secret Korea Trip May Not Save His Nomination, But It Could Save Trump's Summit, Defense One, April 18, 2018.
• Trump’s Silence On A Saudi Nuclear Bomb, LobeLog, March 30, 2018.
• Selling Saudis The Nuclear Rope To Hang US, LobeLog, March 2, 2018.
• Putin Just Gave Trump the Arms Race He Sought, Defense One, March 1, 2018.
• Ending Gender Shunning, Center for a New American Security, February 13, 2018.
• Nuclear Nuts: Trump’s New Policy Hypes The Threat and Brings Us Closer to War, Defense One, February 2, 2018.
• Hawaii’s Nuclear Wakeup Call (and Why We Should Take MLK’s Advice), Defense One, January 14, 2018.
• North and South Korea Have a Breakthrough. What Next?, The National Interest, January 9, 2018.
• Just why Trump's North Korea tweet is so dangerously destabilizing, New York Daily News, January 4, 2018.
• Last Year’s Top 5 Worst Nuclear Nightmares (That Aren’t Going Away), DefenseOne, December 27, 2017.
• Why the Patriot Missile Might Fail America's Military, The National Interest, December 6, 2017.
• North Korea’s New Missile Is a Game-Changer, DefenseOne, December 5, 2017.
• A Plea For Common Sense On Missile Defense, LobeLog, October 18, 2017.
• Trump’s horrifying Iran deal gambit, New York Daily News, October 8, 2017.
• No, We Cannot Shoot Down North Korea’s Missiles, DefenseOne, September 17, 2017.
• How Trump Could Start a Nuclear War and How We Can Stop Him, HuffPost, August 24, 2017.

Recent Media Appearances

• Nuclear incident in Russia points to attempt at new missile engine, The Rachel Maddow Show, August 12, 2019. 
• Global Nuclear Security, Press Conference USA, August 2, 2019. 
• If Iran decided to make a bomb, how long would it take?, PRI's The World, June 25, 2019. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, May 31, 2019.
• Joe Cirincione: The Modern Nuclear Arms Race, East West Institute Podcast, May 20, 2019.
• Tensions Mount As Nuclear Deal Suffers Blow From Iran, Worldview, May 15, 2019.
• The Zebra Problem and Russiagate as the Original Sin of the Trump Administration, Deep State Radio, May 13, 2019.
• Joe Cirincione: Trump Says NATO Nations Aren't Paying Fair Share of Military Spending. That's Not True., Democracy Now!, April 5, 2019. 
• Brexit, fighting in Gaza, ISIS defeated(?) and eliminating nukes, Pod Save The World, March 27, 2019.
• Are We On the Verge of Trump's First Big Foreign Policy Win?, Deep State Radio, February 25, 2019. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, February 25, 2019.
• US "Allies" Out of Control in Yemen, Here & There with Dave Marasash, February 7, 2019.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, February 5, 2019. 
• What the U.S. Withdrawal from the 1988 Nuclear Forces Treaty Means for Arms Control, WBEZ Worldview, February 4, 2019. 
• Trump hands Putin gift in missile treaty withdrawal, The Rachel Maddow Show, February 1, 2019.  
• Will there be a nuclear arms race between the U.S. and Russia?, CBC, February 1, 2019. 
• Expert: 'Cautiously optimistic' about possible peace deal with North Korea, PRI's The World, February 1, 2019. 
• Will the Government Shutdown be the High Water Mark for the Rest of the Trump Years?, Deep State Radio, January 21, 2019. 
• The Racist-in-Chief Marks Another Martin Luther King Day, Deep State Radio, January 21, 2019. 
• PBS Newshour, PBS, January 17, 2019. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, January 9, 2019. 
• The Risk of Nuclear War Today, Rotary Club of Milwaukee Podcasts, October 30, 2018.  
• Trump to Dump INF Treaty, Here & There with Dave Marash, October 29, 2018. 
• Visiting Nuclear Weapons Expert Says Severing Ties With Russia Effectively Triggers A New Arms Race, The Confluence, October 24, 2018. 
• U.S. Plan To Withdraw From Nuclear Treaty Sparks Talk Of Arms Race, On Point, October 24, 2018. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, October 23, 2018. 
• Trump Wants to Kill Russia Nuclear Treaty as He Arms Saudi Arabia, Worldview, October 22, 2018.  
• What Foreign Policy Shifts May Follow a Dem Victory in November?, Deep State Radio, October 16, 2018.  
• Fascist, Incompetent or Both: Assessing Trumpism Today, Deep State Radio, October 16, 2018. 
• A President Out of Control But With the Nuclear Button, Background Briefing with Ian Masters, October 3, 2018.
• Tensions between Iran and the US, PRI's The World, September 25, 2018. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, September 21, 2018.
• Trump issues dire warning to Iran. On Twitter. In ALL CAPS., 11th Hour with Brian Williams, July 23, 2018. 
• Debate: Is Trump-Putin Summit a "Danger to America" or Crucial Diplomacy Between Nuclear Powers?, Democracy Now, July 16, 2018. 
• The real net-net of President Trump's diplomacy with North Korea, Here & There with Dave Marash, July 5, 2018.
• Happy Birthday NPT, You Look Like Crap, Deep State Radio, July 2, 2018.
• Merkel under fire over immigration as nationalism grows in Europe, U.S., AM Joy, June 17, 2018.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, June 14, 2018. 
• Episode 39: What to Expect in Singapore, Wake with Luke Vargas, June 11, 2018.
• Will Trump's high-stakes summit with Kim Jong Un pay off?, 11th Hour with Brian Williams, June 11, 2018. 
• Trump arrives for North Korea summit with Kim Jong-un in Singapore, AM Joy, June 10, 2018.  
• Episode 7: Singapore prospects, Defense One Radio, June 7, 2018.
• North Korea and South Korea leaders meet despite Trump, MSNBC, May 26, 2018. 
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, May 25, 2018.
• Why Trump cancelled the North Korea summit, MSNBC, May 24, 2018.
• N. Korea threatens to scrap Trump summit over U.S. nuke demands, MSNBC, May 16, 2018.
• South Korea's President Moon praised for role in peace talks, MSNBC, May 12, 2018.
• The Art of Violating the Deal by Nukes of Hazard, Nukes of Hazard podcast, May 11, 2018.
• ACRONYMGASM: DOTMLPF-P, JCPOA, NPT PREPCOMS, MILFS, LBJ, IRT, THE YOUTH OF AMERICA ON L-S-D, Deep State Radio, May 3, 2018.
• Israel pressuring the U.S. to scrap Iran Nuclear Deal, MSNBC, May 1, 2018.
• Nuclear Analyst: N. Korea is calling the shots before the summit, MSNBC, April 21, 2018.
• The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, MSNBC, April 21, 2018.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, April 19, 2018.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, March 27, 2018.
• Can we stop the nuclear arms race?, ABC Australia Radio, March 12, 2018.
• North and South Korea agree to talks, Trump invited, MSNBC, March 8, 2018.
• Interview on Putin and Russia, CBC News, March 1, 2018.
• Olympic Update: What's more boring - Curling or Mike Pence?, Deep State Radio, February 15, 2018.
• No Kittens Were Harmed In the Making of this Episode, Deep State Radio, February 13, 2018.
• Episode 98: Nuclear Weapons, Civics 101: A Podcast, February 9, 2018.
• Today’s Top Five Nuclear Threats - Joseph Cirincione, CNS at the Middlebury Institute of International Security at Monterey, February 8, 2018.
• MSNBC Live with Alex Witt, MSNBC, February 3, 2018.
• Cirincione speaks on the Iran Nuclear Deal, Oklahoma State University, February 1, 2018.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, January 22, 2018.
• Pentagon Report Expands Justifications For Use Of Nuclear Weapons, WBEZ Worldview with Jerome McDonnell, January 18, 2018.
• President Trump included on list of top nuclear threats, MSNBC’s AM Joy, December 30, 2017.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, December 14, 2017.
• North Korean Missiles and their New Ability, City Voice Podcast, November 30, 2017.
• North Korea missile test puts Washington, D.C. in attack range, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, November 28, 2017.
• The Bill Press Show with guest Joe Cirincione, Bill Press Show, November 21, 2017.
• Trump deluded on missile defense accuracy, MSNBC, October 13, 2017.
• Trump: Iran hasn't lived up to spirit of nuclear deal, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams on MSNBC, October 5, 2017.
• Joe Madison w/ Joe Cirincione: Threat of Nuclear War, Joe Madison the Black Eagle on SiriusXM, September 28, 2017.
• The Ramifications Of Going Nuclear, WBUR On Point, September 26, 2017.
• Trump dangerous bellicosity raises nuclear war risk with N. Korea, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, September 25, 2017.
• Joe Cirincione on Kim Jong-un's response to Donald Trump's UN speech, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams on MSNBC, September 21, 2017.
• President Trump’s Surprise Deal With Congressional Democrats And Understanding The North Korean Threat, The Diane Rehm Show, September 8, 2017.