U.S. Nuclear Deterrence Policy: Do We Have it Right?
Abstract
The Cold War is over and the Soviet Union is gone. Africa, the South Pacific, and Latin America are nuclear weapon-free zones. China is a most favored trading partner. The United States and Russia have dismantled hundreds of nuclear weapons and decommissioned scores of bombers and submarines. There are numerous international treaties designed to create a world without the threat of nuclear holocaust. So why do states and other actors continue to seek nuclear weapons? Iran is in the media with its thinly veiled efforts to establish itself as a nuclear power. On 6 September 2007, Israel bombed a facility in Syria they believed to be a nuclear threat. North Korea is fattening its international bargaining power with its nuclear program. Pakistan, a nation teetering on the edge of political upheaval, has nuclear missiles. Transnational terrorist organizations relish the thought of acquiring an atomic device. Today's nuclear world is not the one our parent's knew. The main purpose of this paper is to assess U.S. strategy for nuclear deterrence and determine if it is appropriate for application in the post-Cold War world. The analysis examines five strategy documents: the "U.S. National Security Strategy," the "National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction," the "Nuclear Posture Review" (NPR) submitted to Congress in December 2001, and a July 2007 statement by the Secretary of Defense, titled "National Security and Nuclear Weapons: Maintaining Deterrence in the 21st Century." The author compares and contrasts U.S. strategy with alternative points of view from various sources to answer the following questions: What is our nuclear deterrence strategy?; What are the ends, ways, and means of our nuclear deterrence strategy?; Is the U.S. nuclear strategy feasible, acceptable, and suitable?; What are the counterpoints to our nuclear deterrence strategy?; and Does our strategy balance the risk it forces the world and us to assume?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 28, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA481521
Entities
People
- Paul D. Brown
Organizations
- United States Army War College