China’s rising power in the international arena, coupled with mounting tensions between North Korea and the United States, provides an impetus for increasing worldwide nuclear and conventional weapons stability. In this podcast, Paul Haenle and James M. Acton examined the status of the U.S. conventional prompt global strike (CPGS) program and assessed its implications for Asia-Pacific and global security.

Acton highlighted the serious risks of escalation inherent within the CPGS system, and noted a genuine concern in China regarding the potential U.S. adoption and use of the program to target Chinese nuclear forces. Acton made the case for the use of confidence-building measures between the United States and China, including data exchanges and system inspections, to reduce the risks of developing hypersonic weapons and to enhance strategic stability.

James Acton

James Acton is a senior associate and co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program. A physicist by training, Acton specializes in deterrence, disarmament, nonproliferation, and nuclear energy His current research focuses on the nuclear fuel cycle in Japan and hypersonic conventional weapons, and is regarded as among the most influential and authoritative experts on this subject.

Paul Haenle

Paul Haenle is the director of the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served from June 2007 to June 2009 as the director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolian Affairs on the National Security Council staffs of former president George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.