I write regularly for Foreign Policy and War on the Rocks on nuclear risk, AI governance, and the institutions that govern catastrophic technology. You can read more of my thoughts on these topics at Failure Modes.
AI AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
The Trouble With the Nuclear-AI Analogy
Foreign Affairs · September 2026 · with Ankit Panda
From Sam Altman's IAEA to proposals for a Manhattan Project for AGI, the nuclear age has become the default template for governing AI. Ankit and I look at what that blueprint actually was — a regime held together by coercion, sustained by luck, and now fraying — and we compare with all the ways AI differs: in its materials, its uses, who builds it, and the absence of any Hiroshima or Chernobyl moment to force the issue.
The Forensic Gap in AI safety laws
Lawfare · September 2026
AI safety laws require incident reports, but leave out how failures will be investigated. I argue that the evidence and expertise needed to learn from them should be preserved.
A Patchwork Approach to AI Regulation is Best—for Now
Foreign Policy · August 2026
AI safety laws require incident reports, but leave out how failures will be investigated. I argue that the evidence and expertise needed to learn from them should be preserved.
Outsource AI risk to the right people
Foreign Policy · April 2026
Nuclear history's lesson for AI safety: keep dissenting voices in the room, or the people deciding the technology's future won't be the ones worried about its risks.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND SECURITY
The U.S. President should practice for a nuclear crisis
Foreign Policy · November 2025
The commander-in-chief holds sole launch authority and gets one briefing on how to use it. I make the case presidents should practice.
German Atomwaffen and the Superweapon Trap
War on the Rocks · May 2024 · with Gustav Meibauer
Why a German nuclear weapons program wouldn’t buy Berlin — or Europe — the security its advocates imagine.
Russia’s Nukes Are Probably Secure From Rogue Actors
Foreign Policy · June 2023 · with Kirill Shamiev
What the Prigozhin mutiny did and didn’t reveal about the security of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.
The Duck of Minerva · September 2023
Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster is hyper-accurate in some ways — and misses the mark in others.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Foreign Policy · January 2026
Competing spheres of influence will not provide the stability or security their supporters expect.
Ukraine Isn’t Munich — Or Vietnam or Berlin
Foreign Policy · October 2022
What historical analogies get wrong about Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine’s Refugees Are Close Enough for European Solidarity
Foreign Policy · March 2022 · with Simon Frankel Pratt
What historical analogies get wrong about Russia’s invasion.
The Invention of International Order by Glenda Sluga (book review)
E-International Relations · August 2023