U.S. Regional Deterrence Strategies
Abstract
With the Cold War over, U.S. national security strategy has shifted away from its focus on the former Soviet Union and toward possible U.S. regional involvements. As a consequence, the applicability to regional adversaries of virtually all the fundamental elements of U.S. strategy-which were developed during the Cold War with the Soviet Union-must be reevaluated. Among these fundamentals is the role of deterrence. Deterrence was the heart of U.S. strategy for countering the Soviets, both because the United States believed the Soviets were deterrable and because war with the Soviets was unacceptably dangerous. Much of what is called 'deterrence theory' was developed specifically for this function. Therefore, regional strategy requires revisiting basic questions about deterrence. This report represents an attempt to come to grips with fundamental questions. As such, it should be of interest to policy makers, strategists, and military planners interested in the conceptual requirements for effective deterrence, as well as the operational and force structure implications that emerge should the United States make regional deterrence one of the pillars of its national military strategy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA286795
Entities
People
- Dean Wilkening
- Kenneth Watman
Organizations
- RAND Corporation