Publication

This paper examines whether the US can afford to maintain and modernize its nuclear forces over the next 25 years. The authors contend that, with research suggesting that the projected costs of nuclear weapons will continue to account for a relatively small percentage of Washington’s overall defense budget, it can indeed. They also point out that when it comes to funding the modernization programs currently planned for the 2020s and beyond, the issue is not affordability—rather, it is a matter of prioritization and whether nuclear forces, and by extension their modernization programs, should be given higher priority in the budget than other forces.