Negative Security Assurances and the Nuclear Posture Review
Abstract
Policymakers and academics are now debating the Bush administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which was unveiled in January 2002. One issue that has generated commentary is the relationship between the NPR and "negative security assurances," i.e., statements made by U.S. policymakers that the United States will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are also signatories of the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). This policy was restated in a November 1997 Presidential Decision Directive: "the United States reaffirms that it will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States Parties to the [NPT] except in the case of an invasion or any other attack on the United States, its territories, its armed forces or other troops, its allies, or on a State toward which it has a security commitment, carried out or sustained by such a nonnuclear-weapon State in association or alliances with a nuclear-weapon State." Critics allege that these so-called negative assurances have been called into question by some of the states identified as potential nuclear targets by the NPR. But the relationship between the NPR and negative security assurances is more complex than many critics suggest because it highlights the interaction between disarmament, deterrence and counter proliferation policies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 05, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA527151
Entities
People
- James A. Russell
- James J. Wirtz
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School