nuclear weapon

Iran vs. Pakistan: Nuclear Ideology and Strategic Reliability; Theological warfare versus rational deterrence

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As Operation Epic Fury continues, the nooks and crannies of 47 years of failed relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran are being explored by many observers. Much is focused on Iran’s progress toward obtaining a nuclear weapon. That ignores the forest for the trees, as the mere possession of nuclear weapons is not the concern. The real issue is what would the IRI do with any nuclear weapons it possessed.

The Day the Soviets Built the King of Boom

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In October of 1961 the Cold War was already a tense, paranoid chess match played with nuclear weapons instead of pawns. The United States and the Soviet Union were staring each other down across oceans, missile silos, and enough megatonnage to turn the planet into a glowing charcoal briquette. But Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev decided the world needed a reminder of just how big the Soviet hammer could be. So the Kremlin did what any superpower with a bruised ego might do. They built the largest nuclear bomb in human history and lit it off over the Arctic.