The US Nuclear Posture Review in limbo

Abstract

The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) in the United States has been written and shared with Congress in its classified form, but unusually, an unclassified version has not been made public. This is reportedly due to a dispute with some lawmakers over the pending cancellation of a programme to develop a nuclear-armed submarine-launched cruise missile – which the US Navy appears to support – and because the National Security Strategy written by officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden has not yet been finalised. The brief summary of the 2022 NPR that has been released suggests that it is largely a continuation of the nuclear policy adopted in 2010 by former president Barack Obama.