The United States and the Future of its Nuclear Arsenal
Abstract
The Cold War ended somewhere in the early 1990s. Although historians will debate on what event officially marked the end of the Cold War, the exact date is not as important as what the end of the Cold War meant to the nations who possessed nuclear weapons. For many people it meant that they were finally free from the fear of nuclear war and the nuclear weapons that had protected them now seemed unnecessary. This belief can be seen in the United States nuclear weapons program as it has fallen into a state of hibernation since the end of the Cold War, when the United States began the practice of extending the lifespan of its aging nuclear weapons rather than building new ones. The same cannot be said for the other nuclear powers. Take a quick look around the world and you will see that the other nuclear powers are continuing to modernize their nuclear arsenals, and the list of nations striving for their own nuclear weapons programs is growing.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- AD1020133
Entities
People
- Daniel R. Giacomazza
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College