Counterproliferation Strategy: The Role of Preventive War, Preventive Strikes, and Interdiction

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the potential effectiveness of preventive war, preventive strikes, and interdiction as tools for the United States to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) Examination of these three counterproliferation techniques is important because the George W Bush administration has given more prominence to military operations to deal with WMD threats, Six historical cases of preventive war, preventive strikes, and interdiction, against adversarial WMD programs are examined to show the conditions that make military options desirable and effective and the issues that make their implementation difficult, These case studies reveal that interdiction and preventive strikes are viable and can be effective under very limited legal, political, and military circumstances, Although the United States successfully conducted a preventive war against Saddam Hussein's Iraq, this strategy is not likely to succeed in the cases of Iran and North Korea,

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA418216

Entities

People

  • Claire E. Rak

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Arms Control
  • Department Of State
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Explosives
  • Intergovernmental Organizations
  • International Law
  • International Organizations
  • Iraqi-War
  • Military Operations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Bombs
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Treaties
  • United States
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Aerial Unmanned Vehicle Swarm Micro Periodontal Dentistry.
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security