Nuclear Policy: What Could Go Wrong with Dr. Stephen Herzog

Professor Stephen Herzog joins Carl and Christine to examine why well-intentioned nuclear policies sometimes backfire and what artificial intelligence could mean for the future of nuclear security. From the design of the CTBT and the difference between treaty signing and ratification to proliferation, disarmament, verification, and AI-enabled threats, the conversation explores how policymakers can manage nuclear risks in an increasingly complex technological environment.Drawing from Herzog’s open-access book Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail, the episode also asks a critical question: Are the worlds of AI governance and WMD governance prepared to confront these risks together?Dr. Herzog is Director of the Vermont Office of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at Middlebury College and Editor-in-Chief of The Nonproliferation Review. His research focuses on nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, disarmament, and the growing intersection of AI and nuclear weapons.Atomic Backfires book free download: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-edited-volume/6076/Atomic-BackfiresWhen-Nuclear-Policies-Fail