Countering the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Case for Strategic Preemption

Abstract

The declaratory policy of the United States is to prevent the acquisition of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems. The United States has been hesitant to use military force to preempt the acquisition of WMD even with recalcitrant proliferators whose intentions and demonstrated behavior are counter to the interests of the U.S. This paper outlines the case for backing our declared policy with more aggressive counter-proliferation actions, and describes those cases where preemptive conventional military actions are not only appropriate, but are in the best long term interests of the United States.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1998
Accession Number
ADA344306

Entities

People

  • David J. Rehbein

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Arms Control
  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Biological Weapons
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Cold War
  • Governments
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • War
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies