Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries: How Deterrable are They Likely to Be?

Abstract

The United States and other members of the international community are striving to convince North Korea, Iran, and other states to forgo the development of nuclear weapons. If they do not succeed, the consequences for U.S. and allied security could be profound. This research brief describes a RAND Project Air Force Study on nuclear-armed regional adversaries, which encompasses an examination of the historical record, evaluations of the strategies and statements of potential nuclear-armed regional adversaries, and politico-military gaming. This analysis suggests that future U.S. policy makers and commanders will need to develop and field capabilities that can prevent (rather than simply deter) the enemy's use of nuclear weapons.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA484424

Entities

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Cold War
  • Command And Control
  • Corporations
  • Health Care
  • Homeland Security
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Relations
  • Korea
  • Military Operations
  • Motivation
  • National Security
  • North Korea
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • United States
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Strategic Security Studies