Download or read book Tactical Nuclear Weapons written by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-19 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1970s tactical nuclear warfare was a topical issue. The introduction of the new generation of tactical nuclear weapons into Europe could have had disastrous consequences. These new weapons had already been developed by nuclear-weapon laboratories and pressures were growing for their deployment. On first sight, smaller and more accurate nuclear weapons may seem more humane and militarily preferable to the relatively high-yield tactical nuclear weapons currently deployed. But some of these new types of weapons would blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional weapons and their use would make escalation to strategic nuclear war extremely likely. Indeed, the argument for these new weapons is that their use in wartime is more credible (and therefore ‘acceptable’) than current types of tactical nuclear weapons. This perception could easily lead to the exceedingly dangerous idea that some types of tactical nuclear war were ‘winnable’. The fact has to be faced that any use of nuclear weapons is almost certain to escalate until all available weapons are used. To believe otherwise is to believe that one side will surrender before it has used all the weapons in its arsenal. History shows that this is most unlikely to happen. Because of its importance, SIPRI organized a meeting to discuss the whole question. Originally published in 1978, this book is the outcome of that meeting.

Download or read book Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO Enlarged Edition written by Thomas M. Nichols and published by . This book was released on 2013-05-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "NATO has been a "nuclear" alliance since its inception. Nuclear weapons have served the dual purpose of being part of NATO military planning as well as being central to the Alliance's deterrence strategy. For over 4 decades, NATO allies sought to find conventional and nuclear forces, doctrines, and agreed strategies that linked the defense of Europe to that of the United States. Still, in light of the evolving security situation, the Alliance must now consider the role and future of tactical or non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNWs). Two clear conclusions emerge from this analysis. First, in the more than 2 decades since the end of the Cold War, the problem itself -- that is, the question of what to do with weapons designed in a previous century for the possibility of a World War III against a military alliance that no longer exists -- is understudied, both inside and outside of government. Tactical weapons, although less awesome than their strategic siblings, carry significant security and political risks, and they have not received the attention that is commensurate to their importance. Second, it is clear that whatever the future of these arms, the status quo is unacceptable. It is past the time for NATO to make more resolute decisions, find a coherent strategy, and formulate more definite plans about its nuclear status. Consequently, decisions about the role of nuclear weapons within the Alliance and the associated supporting analysis are fundamental to the future identity of NATO. At the Lisbon Summit in Portugal in November 2010, the Alliance agreed to conduct the Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR). This effort is designed to answer these difficult questions prior to the upcoming NATO Summit in May 2012. The United States and its closest allies must define future threats and, in doing so, clarify NATO's identity, purpose, and corresponding force requirements. So far, NATO remains a "nuclear alliance," but it is increasingly hard to define what that means."--Publisher's website

Download or read book Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace written by Michael Krepon and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The definitive guide to the history of nuclear arms control by a wise eavesdropper and masterful storyteller, Michael Krepon. The greatest unacknowledged diplomatic achievement of the Cold War was the absence of mushroom clouds. Deterrence alone was too dangerous to succeed; it needed arms control to prevent nuclear warfare. So, U.S. and Soviet leaders ventured into the unknown to devise guardrails for nuclear arms control and to treat the Bomb differently than other weapons. Against the odds, they succeeded. Nuclear weapons have not been used in warfare for three quarters of a century. This book is the first in-depth history of how the nuclear peace was won by complementing deterrence with reassurance, and then jeopardized by discarding arms control after the Cold War ended. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace tells a remarkable story of high-wire acts of diplomacy, close calls, dogged persistence, and extraordinary success. Michael Krepon brings to life the pitched battles between arms controllers and advocates of nuclear deterrence, the ironic twists and unexpected outcomes from Truman to Trump. What began with a ban on atmospheric testing and a nonproliferation treaty reached its apogee with treaties that mandated deep cuts and corralled "loose nukes" after the Soviet Union imploded. After the Cold War ended, much of this diplomatic accomplishment was cast aside in favor of freedom of action. The nuclear peace is now imperiled by no less than four nuclear-armed rivalries. Arms control needs to be revived and reimagined for Russia and China to prevent nuclear warfare. New guardrails have to be erected. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace is an engaging account of how the practice of arms control was built from scratch, how it was torn down, and how it can be rebuilt.

Download or read book Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces written by Oleg Bukharin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 726 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive databook of technical and institutional facts about the Soviet and Russian nuclear arsenal.

Download or read book Getting MAD Nuclear Mutual Assured Destruction Its Origins and Practice written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly 40 years after the concept of finite deterrence was popularized by the Johnson administration, nuclear Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) thinking appears to be in decline. The United States has rejected the notion that threatening population centers with nuclear attacks is a legitimate way to assure deterrence. Most recently, it withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, an agreement based on MAD. American opposition to MAD also is reflected in the Bush administration's desire to develop smaller, more accurate nuclear weapons that would reduce the number of innocent civilians killed in a nuclear strike. Still, MAD is influential in a number of ways. First, other countries, like China, have not abandoned the idea that holding their adversaries' cities at risk is necessary to assure their own strategic security. Nor have U.S. and allied security officials and experts fully abandoned the idea. At a minimum, acquiring nuclear weapons is still viewed as being sensible to face off a hostile neighbor that might strike one's own cities. Thus, our diplomats have been warning China that Japan would be under tremendous pressure to go nuclear if North Korea persisted in acquiring a few crude weapons of its own. Similarly, Israeli officials have long argued, without criticism, that they would not be second in acquiring nuclear weapons in the Middle East. Indeed, given that Israelis surrounded by enemies that would not hesitate to destroy its population if they could, Washington finds Israel's retention of a significant nuclear capability totally "understandable."

Download or read book Joint Military Net Assessment written by and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Guarding the Guardians written by Peter Feaver and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Few problems of national security have remained as critical in the post-Cold War era as those raised by the command and control of nuclear weapons. Should nuclear arsenals be overseen by civilians rather than military experts? How can effective civilian control be ensured? In this lucid and penetrating book, Peter Douglas Feaver tells the story of U.S. nuclear custody policy from 1945 to the present and offers a new framework for approaching the issue of nuclear command and control." "Feaver first examines the fundamental constraints and dilemmas inherent in the operation of nuclear command and control. He provides an overview of civilian control of each component of nuclear operation, with reference to three major factors: the president, who has the legal authority to order the use of nuclear weapons; key military officers who are authorized to detonate weapons without the president's permission; and lower-level officers who have physical control of the weapons. Feaver next offers a model identifying factors that explain changes in civilian control policy over time. Drawing on extensive interviews and recently declassified government documents, he then provides a rich historical account of nuclear weapons custody, paying particular attention to the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations." "Guarding the Guardians will be an essential resource for political scientists, policy-makers, security affairs specialists, historians, and anyone concerned with addressing the hazards created by nuclear arms."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Download or read book Restricted Data written by Alex Wellerstein and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-04-09 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Nuclear weapons, since their conception, have been the subject of secrecy. In the months after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American scientific establishment, the American government, and the American public all wrestled with what was called the "problem of secrecy," wondering not only whether secrecy was appropriate and effective as a means of controlling this new technology but also whether it was compatible with the country's core values. Out of a messy context of propaganda, confusion, spy scares, and the grave counsel of competing groups of scientists, what historian Alex Wellerstein calls a "new regime of secrecy" was put into place. It was unlike any other previous or since. Nuclear secrets were given their own unique legal designation in American law ("restricted data"), one that operates differently than all other forms of national security classification and exists to this day. Drawing on massive amounts of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time at the author's request, Restricted Data is a narrative account of nuclear secrecy and the tensions and uncertainty that built as the Cold War continued. In the US, both science and democracy are pitted against nuclear secrecy, and this makes its history uniquely compelling and timely"--

Download or read book The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy written by Alyson J. K. Bailes and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1999 the EU decided to develop its own military capacities for crisis management. This book brings together a group of experts to examine the consequences of this decision on Nordic policy establishments, as well as to shed new light on the defence and security issues that matter for Europe as a whole.

Download or read book No First Use written by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-19 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate on no-first-use of nuclear weapons has been conducted on a number of fronts. First use of nuclear weapons has come under challenge from many different directions: from church synods, from international lawyers, in debates at the United Nations, and from strategic thinkers. Originally published in 1984, this book takes stock for and against no-first-use and examines the political, military and arms control implications of such a commitment.

Download or read book The Nuclear Taboo written by Nina Tannenwald and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-12-20 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' in favour of what she calls a nuclear taboo - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, the forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War 1991) and examines how the nuclear taboo has repeatedly dissuaded US and other world leaders from resorting to these 'ultimate weapons'. Through a systematic analysis, Tannenwald challenges conventional conceptions of deterrence and offers a compelling argument on the moral bases of nuclear restraint as well as an important insight into how nuclear war can be avoided in the future.

Download or read book Turkey and the West written by Kemal Kirisci and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2017-12-12 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Turkey: A necessary ally in a troubled region With the new administration in office, it is not clear whether the U.S. will continue to lead and sustain a global liberal order that was already confronted by daunting challenges. These range from a fragile European Union rocked by the United Kingdom’s exit and rising populism to a cold war-like rivalry with Russia and instability in the Middle East. A long-standing member of NATO, Turkey stands as a front-line state in the midst of many of these challenges. Yet, Turkey is failing to play a more constructive role in supporting this order--beyond caring for nearly 3 million refugees, mostly coming from the fighting in Syria--and its current leadership is in frequent disagreement with its Western allies. This tension has been compounded by a failed Turkish foreign policy that aspired to establish its own alternative regional order in the Middle East. As a result, many in the West now question whether Turkey functions as a dependable ally for the United States and other NATO members. Kemal Kirisci’s new book argues that, despite these problems, the domestic and regional realities are now edging Turkey toward improving its relations with the West. A better understanding of these developments will be critical in devising a new and realistic U.S. strategy toward a transformed Turkey and its neighborhood. Western policymakers must keep in mind three on-the-ground realities that might help improve the relationship with Turkey. First, Turkey remains deeply integrated within the transatlantic community, a fact that once imbued it with prestige in its neighborhood. It is this prestige that the recent trajectory of Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy has squandered; for it to be regained, Turkey needs to rebuild cooperation with the West. The second reality is that chaos in the neighborhood has resulted in the loss of lucrative markets for Turkish exports—which, in return, increases the value to Turkey of Western markets. Third, Turkish national security is threatened by developments in Syria and an increasingly assertive Russia, enhancing the strategic value of Turkey’s “troubled alliance” with the West. The big question, however, is whether rising authoritarianism in Turkey and the government’s anti-Western rhetoric will cease and Turkey’s democracy restored before the current fault lines can be overcome and constructive re-engagement between the two sides can occur. In light of these realities, this book discusses the challenges and opportunities for the new U.S. administration as well as the EU of re-engaging with a sometimes-troublesome, yet long-time ally.

Download or read book War Plans and Alliances in the Cold War written by Vojtech Mastny and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This essential new volume reviews the threat perceptions, military doctrines, and war plans of both the NATO alliance and the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War, as well as the position of the neutrals, from the post-Cold War perspective. Based on previously unknown archival evidence from both East and West, the twelve essays in the book focus on the potential European battlefield rather than the strategic competition between the superpowers. They present conclusions about the nature of the Soviet threat that could previously only be speculated about and analyze the interaction between military matters and politics in the alliance management on both sides, with implications for the present crisis of the Western alliance. This new book will be of much interest for students of the Cold War, strategic history and international relations history, as well as all military colleges.

Download or read book Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Explosive Materials written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-04-15 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study, CISAC tackles the technical dimensions of a longstanding controversy: To what extent could existing and plausibly attainable measures for transparency and monitoring make possible the verification of all nuclear weaponsâ€"strategic and nonstrategic, deployed and nondeployedâ€"plus the nuclear-explosive components and materials that are their essential ingredients? The committee's assessment of the technical and organizational possibilities suggests a more optimistic conclusion than most of those concerned with these issues might have expected.

Download or read book Europe s Evolving Deterrence Discourse written by Anna Péczeli and published by . This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades, nuclear deterrence has been at the heart of the transatlantic relationship between the United States and Europe. It underpins European security, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continuously commits to remaining a nuclear alliance as long as nuclear weapons exist. And yet, with a few important exceptions, transatlantic dialogue on nuclear issues largely declined with the end of the Cold War, particularly among non-governmental experts--and has only started to be revived in recent years. Rebuilding deterrence dialogue in response to a shifting strategic landscape is an important step in strengthening not only the transatlantic partnership, but also European security. This paper collection explores the evolving deterrence dialogue in Europe and identifies ways to inject new momentum into that dialogue. Renewed attention on the issue is particularly timely as European actors confront an adventurist Russia, rising China, and new technologies that will impact nuclear deterrence, U.S.-Europe relations, and institutions such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Download or read book 2018 Nuclear Posture Review written by United States. Department of Defense and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On January 27, 2017, President Donald Trump directed Secretary of Defense James Mattis to initiate a new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). The President made clear that his first priority is to protect the United States, allies, and partners. He also emphasized both the long-term goal of eliminating nuclear weapons and the requirement that the United States have modern, flexible, and resilient nuclear capabilities that are safe and secure until such a time as nuclear weapons can prudently be eliminated from the world.The United States remains committed to its efforts in support of the ultimate global elimination of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. It has reduced the nuclear stockpile by over 85 percent since the height of the Cold War and deployed no new nuclear capabilities for over two decades. Nevertheless, global threat conditions have worsened markedly since the most recent 2010 NPR, including increasingly explicit nuclear threats from potential adversaries. The United States now faces a more diverse and advanced nuclear-threat environment than ever before, with considerable dynamism in potential adversaries' development and deployment programs for nuclear weapons and delivery systems.

Download or read book Future Roles of U S Nuclear Forces written by Glenn C. Buchan and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2003 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the possible roles of nuclear weapons in contemporary U.S. national security policy. The United States has a range of nuclear strategies and postures among which to choose: from abolition of U.S. nuclear weapons, aggressive reductions and "dealerting," "business as usual, only smaller," more aggressive nuclear posture, to nuclear emphasis. The nation should have the operational flexibility to in fact use a modest number of nuclear weapons if the need were overwhelming and other options were inadequate.