Mr. President, You Can't Launch Nukes In Here; This Is The War Room!

Abstract

The Commander, US Strategic Command (US STRATCOM) stated in testimony to Congress he would not obey an illegal order to use nuclear weapons. This paper explores international laws and the law of war concepts of proportionality, necessity and distinction as they apply to nuclear weapons. It also looks at US nuclear weapon policy and the deterrence implications of US STRATCOM's statements.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 27, 2018
Accession Number
AD1078158

Entities

People

  • Keith E. Patton

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Biological Weapons
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Department Of Defense
  • Deterrence
  • Environment
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • International Law
  • International Security
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Treaties
  • United States Strategic Command
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Effects
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Irregular Warfare and Special Operations Cyberspace Operations against Adversarial Threats.
  • Strategic Security Studies