Why Biden should abandon the great power competition narrative

ABSTRACT

Aside from a quick extension of the New START treaty, one important step the Biden administration should consider in the realm of nuclear policy is to jettison the “great power competition” narrative that Trump officials and supporters have popularized.

KEYWORDS:

• Nuclear weapons
• arms control
• New START
• Russia
• China

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Sharon Squassoni

Sharon Squassoni is research professor at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs, at the George Washington University. Previously, she directed the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and was a senior scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, both in Washington, DC. She has specialized in nuclear nonproliferation, arms control and security policy for three decades, serving in the US government at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the State Department, and the Congressional Research Service. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Albany, a master’s in public management from the University of Maryland, and a master’s in national security strategy from the National War College.