Details
Recent films like Oppenheimer and Dynamite have reignited public debate on nuclear weapons, deterrence, and missile defense—but are their narratives shaping policy in dangerous ways? Join us for an in-depth discussion with Peter Huessy and Dr. Adam Lowther as we examine the myths and misconceptions portrayed in popular media and contrast them with the hard realities of U.S. deterrence policy.
This seminar will explore:
How Hollywood frames nuclear deterrence—and what it gets wrong
The enduring role of the U.S. nuclear triad in maintaining strategic stability
Why missile defense remains critical despite cinematic distortions
The implications of “global zero” advocacy and abolitionist narratives
Escalation strategies by Russia and China—and what they mean for U.S. security
As adversaries modernize their arsenals and adopt coercive nuclear strategies, understanding the facts behind deterrence is more important than ever. Don’t miss this opportunity to separate cinematic fiction from strategic reality.
Speakers
Host of Huessy Seminars, Mr. Peter Huessy is President of his own defense consulting firm, Geostrategic Analysis, founded in 1981, and through 2021, Director of Strategic Deterrent Studies at the Mitchell Institute on Aerospace Studies. He was the senior defense consultant at the National Defense University Foundation for 22 years. He was the National Security Fellow at the AFPC, and Senior Defense Consultant at the Air Force Association from 2011-2016. Mr. Huessy has served as an expert defense and national security analyst for over 50 years, helping his clients cover congressional activities, arms control group efforts, nuclear armed states actions, and US administration nuclear related policy, budgets, and strategies, while monitoring budget and policy developments on nuclear deterrence, ICBM modernization, nuclear arms control, and overall nuclear modernization. He has also covered nuclear terrorism, counterterrorism, immigration, state-sponsored terrorism, missile defense, weapons of mass destruction, especially US-Israeli joint defense efforts, nuclear deterrence, arms control, proliferation, as well as tactical and strategic air, airlift, space and nuclear matters and such state and non-state actors as North Korea, China, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al Qaeda. This also includes monitoring activities of think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and other US government departments, as well as projecting future actions of Congress in this area. His specialty is developing and implementing public policy campaigns to secure support for important national security objectives. And analyzing nuclear related technology and its impact on public policy, a study of which he prepared for the Aerospace Corporation in 2019.
Adam Lowther, PhD is the Vice President of Research at the National Institute for Deterrence Studies. He has deep expertise in nuclear deterrence and the nuclear programs of Russia and China.
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