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Spring 2026

Cyber Security | Cyber Warfare | Deterrence | Nuclear Strategy | Podcast | Technology

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The Balance of Control and Vulnerability: Cyber and Nuclear Risks

Cyber Security | Cyber Warfare | Deterrence | Nuclear Strategy | Podcast | Technology May 26, 2026

Jacquelyn Schneider, Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Ryan Vest

Dr. Jackie Schneider moves beyond Hollywood analogies and pop-culture fears, and argues that common understandings of how cyber operations impact nuclear stability are often misguided. She unpacks three specific pathways to escalation—deliberate, inadvertent, and accidental—and applies percolation theory to explain how the structure of nuclear networks dictates their vulnerability. Schneider explores the critical trade-offs between centralization, efficiency, and resilience, warning that as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) networks become more entangled with artificial intelligence, the risks of data manipulation increase.

The Roundtable essay discussed is “Cyber Operations and Nuclear Stability: Networked Instability?”

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Hosts: Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Ryan Vest

Producer: Jordan Morning

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