Matthew Bunn | Lightnews

Light up
your news

About Privacy Terms Help

Matthew Bunn

Matthew Bunn

@matthew-bunn.bsky.social

510 followers 130 following 320 posts

Father, husband, citizen, professor, focusing mainly on nuclear weapons and nuclear energy issues. Faculty lead for Harvard's Managing the Atom project: www.belfercenter.org/programs/managing-atom
My website: matthewbunn.scholars.harvard.edu .. more

Matthew Bunn is an American nuclear and energy policy analyst, currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is the Co-principal Investigator for the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom. .. more

Political science 44%

Engineering 24%

more

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · Oct 23

Proud to have been part of 50 years of work to reduce the danger of nuclear war at the Harvard Kennedy School, detailed in this new account in the Kennedy School's magazine. The effort is more urgent and essential than ever. www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...

Inside the Kennedy School’s long fight to prevent nuclear catastrophe

For generations, the insights and engagement of Harvard Kennedy School scholars have strengthened nuclear strategies and reduced dangers.

www.hks.harvard.edu

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 21h

Tonight in 1991, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, resigned and peacefully ceded power to Boris Yeltsin as president of the new Russian Federation. The next day, the Supreme Soviet formally voted to dissolve itself and the 69-year-old Soviet Union.

The front page of the December 26, 1991, edition of the New York Times featuring the banner headline, "GORBACHEV, LAST SOVIET LEADER, RESIGNS; U.S. RECOGNIZES REPUBLICS' INDEPENDENCE." Below that is a large black and white photograph of Gorbachev sitting at a desk after announcing his resignation on state television, closing a folder or notebook containing his remarks with a downcast look on his face. The sub-headline for the lead article reads, "Communist Flag is Removed; Yeltsin Gets Nuclear Controls." A separate article below the photograph is headlined, "The Soviet State, Born of a Dream, Dies."

The front page of the December 26, 1991, edition of the New York Daily News featuring a nearly full page black and white photograph of Gorbachev wearing a hat and coat and waving, with the with words "Bye, Gorby" printed in large capital letters above.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 1d

Moscow has attacked Ukraine’s energy grid on a scale unseen in past years. Whereas last winter, a major Russian attack might have involved 100 drones and missiles, now it can send 500. www.wsj.com/world/christ...

Christmas in Ukraine Approaches With Power Grid in Crisis

Moscow has launched far more drones and missiles than in previous years, leaving energy supplies at a tipping point.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 1d

You may not know it, but over the years Santa Claus has had an interesting relationship with nuclear weapons.

During World War II—on a visit to the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee—his sack of toys was subjected to a thorough search before he was allowed to enter the secret city.

An archival black and white photograph of two security guards at Clinton Engineer Works (where highly enriched uranium was being produced) giving a man dressed as Santa Claus and his sack of toys a thorough inspection outside a guard shack at an entrance to the facility (where two more guards look on from inside the shack). Santa holds a stuffed toy dog in his right hand as one guard looks warily at another toy and the other rummages through the sack.

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 2d

SCOTUS deals a serious blow to Trump's efforts to normalize sending troops to blue-voting cities and states -- something he very likely plans to try during the 2026 midterms, to suppress Democratic votes. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Supreme Court hands Trump a major defeat on National Guard deployment

The Supreme Court holds that the president’s authority to deploy the National Guard for law enforcement purposes likely only applies in “exceptional” circumstances.

www.washingtonpost.com

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 2d

Not often I find myself agreeing with John Bolton. He notes that the Witkoff-Kushner Ukraine peace negotiations are untethered to any serious analysis of U.S. national security interests. (Or to Ukraine's, I might add.) www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | How the West is losing Ukraine without losing a battle

E.U. timidity and Trump’s pro-Russian diplomacy are shifting the war in Moscow’s favor.

www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Aaron Sojourner

Jason Furman @jasonfurman.bsky.social · 2d

New piece in @nytopinion.nytimes.com trying to explain the GDP boom combined with job bust. I don't have a definitive answer--in fact I'm skeptical of grand unified theories given how the data is often revised and noisy. As always, only update a little on this news. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/o...

Opinion | Economic Growth Is Up. Unemployment Is, Too. What’s Going On?

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Kori Schake, Matthew Bunn, Lesley Bartlett

Edward Wong @ewong.bsky.social · 3d

The Trump administration is recalling nearly 30 ambassadors, all of whom are career diplomats. A union says there has never been such a mass recall in the history of the foreign service. Morale has been plummeting in the State Department all year. Story: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/u...

Trump Administration Orders Nearly 30 U.S. Ambassadors to Leave Their Posts

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 4d

"A Russian general has been killed after an explosive device detonated beneath his car in what Moscow described as a likely assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Russian general killed by car bomb in Moscow, say investigators

Russia’s Investigative Committee says it is looking into whether Ukraine intelligence services were behind attack

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Lukas Graf

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 4d

The whole "people say we can't talk to Putin" thing increasingly feels like a straw man. Is anyone here actually opposed to negotiations? Western leaders practically begged Putin not to invade. Zelensky would sit down with Putin tomorrow if he agreed to meet outside Russia

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Scott L. Greer, Daniel W. Drezner , and 5 more Matthew Bunn, Scott L. Greer, Daniel W. Drezner, Robert Wolfe, Alessandro Nai, Sarah Roberts, Daxton R. Stewart, David Darmofal

Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 4d

Current issue of @theonion.com nails it again.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

日経電子版 @nikkei.com · 7d

首相官邸筋「核持つべきだ」　安保担当、非公式取材で（無料記事）
www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQO...

高市政権で安全保障政策を担当する官邸筋は12月18日、「私は核を持つべきだと思っている」と官邸で記者団に述べました。

オフレコを前提にした記者団の非公式取材を受けた際に出た発言です。

記者団から核保有に対する考えを問われ、官邸筋は核保有が必要だとした上で「最終的に頼れるのは自分たちだ」と説明しました。

同時に、現実的ではないとの見方にも言及しました。

#ニュース

首相官邸筋「核持つべきだ」　安保担当、非公式取材で - 日本経済新聞

高市政権で安全保障政策を担当する官邸筋は18日、「私は核を持つべきだと思っている」と官邸で記者団に述べ、日本の核兵器保有が必要だとの認識を示した。発言はオフレコを前提にした記者団の非公式取材を受けた際に出た。同時に、現実的ではないとの見方にも言及した。非公式取材で記者団から核保有に対する考えを問われ、官邸筋は核保有が必要だとした上で「最終的に頼れるのは自分たちだ」と説明した。一方「コンビニで買

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Alex Wellerstein @wellerstein.bsky.social · 7d

I'm excited about this — expect lots of interesting things in the new year! thebulletin.org/2025/12/alex...

Alex Wellerstein joins the Bulletin

The Bulletin is proud to welcome Alex Wellerstein as a new Senior Fellow. In this role, he will work with the Bulletin’s editorial team on historical

thebulletin.org

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social · 7d

🚨 JUST IN: A new book explains how four US administrations had multiple opportunities to stop North Korea from getting nuclear weapons but failed, @joecirin.bsky.social writes in @thebulletin.org.

#nuclearweapons #NorthKorea #Trump #nukesky

Four US presidents failed to stop North Korea's nuclear buildup. Trump still has a shot

A new book tracks four decades of failed US policy toward North Korea, making a strong case that solutions existed—and still exist.

thebulletin.org

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 7d

55 years ago this morning, BANEBERRY—a 10-kiloton, weapons-related, underground nuclear test 912 feet beneath the Nevada Test Site—accidentally vented, releasing 6.7 million curies of radioactive debris, including 80,000 curies of iodine-131, the second largest venting in US history. (THREAD)

A color aerial photograph of the tall BANEBERRY white and brown radioactive venting cloud rising out of its vertical test shaft at the Nevada Test Site against a mostly blue sky.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Hans M. Kristensen

Geoff Brumfiel @gbrumfiel.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: Trump's new Reactor Pilot Program is rushing to build at least 3 experimental reactor designs by July 4, 2026.

Here's a deep look at the program and why it's raising safety concerns.

For the nuke nerds, I'll also highlight what's new in this 🧵

www.npr.org/2025/12/17/n...

Trump's rush to build nuclear reactors across the U.S. raises safety worries

A new program at the Department of Energy is pushing the development of nearly a dozen new reactor designs at breakneck speed.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Gregory Koblentz @gregkoblentz.bsky.social · 8d

Russia forced a premature end to the Meeting of States Parties to the BWC on procedural grounds....again!

www.cbw-events.org.uk/BWC25-19.pdf

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Punchbowl News @punchbowlnews.bsky.social · 9d

☀️TOP in @punchbowlnews.bsky.social AM: With unemployment up, prices high and health costs set to spike, House GOP moderates are at a crossroads with leadership. Vulnerable Republicans say extending Obamacare subsidies is a political must — but Johnson isn't budging.
punchbowl.news/article/hous...

GOP moderates' make or break moment

There are just three days left before the December recess and House GOP moderates are at a crossroads with their own leadership.

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 9d

NCAR is quite literally our global mothership.

Everyone who works in climate and weather has passed through its doors and benefited from its incredible resources.

Dismantling NCAR is like taking a sledgehammer to the keystone holding up our scientific understanding of the planet.

Unbelievable.

Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado

The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.

www.usatoday.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, James Cameron

Stephen Herzog @herzogsm.bsky.social · 9d

1/7

It's book publication day! "Atomic Backfires: When Nuclear Policies Fail" is out now from @mitpress.bsky.social in @belfercenter.bsky.social's Studies in International Security book series.

Contents and discount codes below. @managingtheatom.bsky.social

mitpress.mit.edu/978026205185...

Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Matthew Bunn

Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 10d

This is well worth a read. I think there is a consensus that economic and political power has got out of hand, left being people and places have been left behind and Govt plays a more important role.

I'm less sure traditional ways of looking at the world have actually gone away.

Dani Rodrik @drodrik.bsky.social · 10d

But dont go looking for it in Trump’s
Policies. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/n...

The Post-Neoliberal Consensus Is Here

Dani Rodrik identifies three tenets of a new consensus that is uniting the left and the right in the United States.

www.project-syndicate.org

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Jennifer Weeks @jenniferweeks83.bsky.social · 10d

Never expected to see the GAO use Whack-a Mole to describe a public policy challenge, but it's not a bad metaphor for curbing malicious uses of generative AI. www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Jennifer Weeks @jenniferweeks83.bsky.social · 10d

Public lands are big economic drivers in rural communities, and support for many conservation programs is bipartisan. An in-depth look at how Trump funding cuts are landing in Montana 🌏https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/12/15/doge-cuts-donald-trump-montana-00681695

‘I Didn’t Vote for This’: A Revolt Against DOGE Cuts, Deep in Trump Country

Trump administration policies slashing staffing and funding for public lands are waking a sleeping political giant in Montana. Will either party notice?

www.politico.com

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 10d

Thirty years ago today, the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone Treaty—also known as the Bangkok Treaty—opened for signature and was signed by 10 states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It entered into force on March 27, 1997.

A map of southeast Asia showing the states that are parties to and covered by the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone Treaty in blue with non-parties in gray.

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Matthew Bunn, Richard S.J. Tol , and 23 more Rebecca Solnit, Matthew Bunn, Richard S.J. Tol, Brendan Nyhan, Richard Betts, Scott L. Greer, Steve Peers, David Peetz, David Rothschild, Guy Grossman, Alan Lester, David S. Cohen, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Gerald Friedman, Robert B. Reich, Stephen Ryan, Samantha Brennan, Michael D. McDonald, Mark Rice, Joanna L. Grossman, Eugenio Proto, Rebecca Zorach, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Farah Mendlesohn

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 10d

utterly incapable of grace

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Project on Managing the Atom @managingtheatom.bsky.social · 10d

MTA Visiting Scholar @herzogsm.bsky.social & alum Dave Alison won a Best Paper 2025 Award from @socriskanalysis.bsky.social for work on the AI-nuclear proliferation nexus. The prize honors papers w/ "the most significant impacts on the theory or practice of risk analysis.” doi.org/10.1111/risa...

Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Weapons Proliferation: The Technological Arms Race for (In)visibility

A robust nonproliferation regime has contained the spread of nuclear weapons to just nine states. Yet, emerging and disruptive technologies are reshaping the landscape of nuclear risks, presenting a ....

Reposted by Matthew Bunn, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers , and 5 more Matthew Bunn, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens, Melanie C. Green, Rachel M. Gisselquist, Sebastian Karcher, David Darmofal

Chris Morran @themorrancave.bsky.social · 11d

The human cost of Trump's gutting of USAID: By the time Tor Top’s mother was sick with cholera, the nearby clinic had been shuttered for weeks. He bundled her into a canoe & paddled toward the nearest hospital, 8 hours away. Less than halfway into the journey, his mother died.

New, @propublica.org

Trump Officials Celebrated With Cake After Slashing Aid. Then People Died of Cholera.

Behind closed doors in Washington, top advisers made a series of decisions that had devastating repercussions for the poorest country on earth. We went to South Sudan and found people who died as a re...

www.propublica.org

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 11d

The book also warned of the increased risk from insiders being fired or demoted.

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

Insider Threats by edited by Matthew Bunn and Scott D. Sagan | eBook | Cornell University Press

"This compendium of research on insider threats is essential reading for all personnel with accountabilities for security; it shows graphically the extent and persistence of the threat that all organi...

www.cornellpress.cornell.edu

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 11d

The killings of US soldiers in Syria were carried out by a Syrian security officer—about to be fired. Austin Long wrote about such green-on-blue attacks in Afghanistan in the book I edited with Scott Sagan, Insider Threats.

Syrian Who Killed U.S. Soldiers Was Security Force Member, Officials Say

The shooting shows risks for White House of embracing Damascus government, which includes former rebel groups with extremist ties.

Matthew Bunn @matthew-bunn.bsky.social · 13d

Anyone who doesn’t think America is already great hasn’t seen Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra. What a show! theujo.org

Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra

Featuring up to 18 accomplished musicians, the UJO sets the global standard for celebrating jazz in its authentic musical form.

Reposted by Matthew Bunn

Kingston Reif @kingstonareif.bsky.social · 14d

"We Might Regret Golden Dome’s Greatest Ambition"

We Might Regret Golden Dome's Greatest Ambition

What happens when the United States tries to build a missile shield so ambitious that Russia and China start dreaming up weapons that no defense can stop?

warontherocks.com