The Challenge of Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries

The Challenge of Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries PDF Author: David A. Ochmanek
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833042327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 79

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Book Description
A defining feature of the post-Cold War international security environment has been that the United States, acting either alone or with allies and coalition partners, possessed the capability to impose its will on states, such as Serbia and Iraq under Saddam Hussein, that could be termed regional adversaries. We define this term to mean countries (1) that pursue policies that are at odds with the interests of the United States and its security partners and that run counter to broadly accepted norms of state behavior and (2) whose size and military forces are not of the first magnitude. 1 The category is useful as a means of distinguishing this group of states from larger, more powerful states, such as Russia, China, and India, which do not share their vulnerabilities to forcible intervention and which, for the present, at least, are pursuing policies vis- -vis the United States and its allies that are generally more cooperative than confrontational.

The Challenge of Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries

The Challenge of Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries PDF Author: David A. Ochmanek
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833042327
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 79

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Book Description
A defining feature of the post-Cold War international security environment has been that the United States, acting either alone or with allies and coalition partners, possessed the capability to impose its will on states, such as Serbia and Iraq under Saddam Hussein, that could be termed regional adversaries. We define this term to mean countries (1) that pursue policies that are at odds with the interests of the United States and its security partners and that run counter to broadly accepted norms of state behavior and (2) whose size and military forces are not of the first magnitude. 1 The category is useful as a means of distinguishing this group of states from larger, more powerful states, such as Russia, China, and India, which do not share their vulnerabilities to forcible intervention and which, for the present, at least, are pursuing policies vis- -vis the United States and its allies that are generally more cooperative than confrontational.

Confronting Emergent Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries

Confronting Emergent Nuclear-armed Regional Adversaries PDF Author: Forrest E. Morgan
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Discusses the challenges associated with potential confrontations between the United States and hostile states with small nuclear arsenals.

Fighting a Nuclear-Armed Regional Opponent

Fighting a Nuclear-Armed Regional Opponent PDF Author: Department of Defense
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781973270805
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
In order to sustain the current international system organized around American-led alliances, the United States may need to be able to confront challenges posed by revisionist powers armed with nuclear weapons. Immature or transitional nuclear powers are likely to pose especially pressing problems for US strategy and military planning over the coming decades. In light of this probability, the United States should develop the capability both to confront and, at least in a limited sense, defeat such powers while also preventing or deterring them from employing nuclear weapons for decisive effect. Such a balancing act will require a sophisticated set of capabilities and equally sophisticated planning, posturing, and action. This study will examine several different possible responses, each with a correlative set of capability requirements. The first option is to maintain the status quo with its brittle binary responses to nuclear threats: inaction or nuclear retaliation. The second option would invest in capabilities that allow the US to defeat an adversary witling to use its nascent nuclear arsenal. The last option is an extensive program intended to permit the US to conduct operations across the military spectrum in the face of significant nuclear use by an opponent. The bottom line is quite simple: the United States should have military and technological options to deal with emerging nuclear powers. However, investing in meaningful response options would require the US political leadership to acknowledge that the current status quo strategy - with its focus on preparing for strictly conventional regional contingencies - is dangerously inadequate. This may be especially true in dealing with emerging nuclear states, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, that have a strongly revisionist geo-strategic agenda. On the other hand, if the United States decides against making the investment to adapt to these emerging nuclear powers, it calls into question the central rationale for continuing a massive and sustained investment in high technology conventional capabilities since few will wish to fight the United States on its own terms. In a world of nuclear-armed adversaries, forces optimized to fight only conventionally-armed regional powers would seem to have little utility. The Range of Regional Nuclear Threats * Nascent or Tier One Capabilities: Limited Retaliatory Capability * Militarily Operational or Tier Two Capabilities: Multi-Salvo Capability * Mature Tier Three Capabilities: Assured Retaliatory Capability * The Shield/Sword Challenge * US National Military Response Options * The Status Quo, Option A * Moderate Adaptation Strategy, Option B * Aggressive Adaptation Strategy, Option C * Overview * I. THEMES FROM THE HISTORY OF NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION * II. THE STRATEGIC CHALLENGE OF EMERGING NUCLEAR POWERS * III. ALTERNATIVE NATIONAL SECURITY RESPONSES * Option A * Doctrine and Concepts of Operation * Option B * Doctrine and Concepts of Operation * Option C * Doctrine and Concepts of Operation * IV. Preparing for Nuclear Operations: Cold War Lessons Learned * V. RESPONDING TO A REGIONAL NUCLEAR CHALLENGE: THE STATUS QUO, OPTION A * Enhanced Counterforce Investments * All Weather Precision Guided Munitions * Persistent Attack Munitions * All Weather Precision and Persistent Surveillance and Targeting * Enhanced Active Defense Investments * The National Security Space (NSS) Architecture * On EMP and High Altitude Nuclear Detonation (HAND) * Enhanced R&D and Training * Enhanced Expeditionary Capability * An Overview * VI. "DEFEATING" A NUCLEAR-ARMED REGIONAL POWER: A MODERATE ADAPTATION STRATEGY, OPTION B * Requirements for Option B * The Dynamic Regional Nuclear Threat * Counter-Nuclear Campaign Requirements * Persistent Reconnaissance-Strike * A New Generation of Earth Penetration Warheads * Resurrecting Joint Counter-Nuclear Campaign Training * Active Defenses * More Robust C4ISR * Preparing for EMP and HAND Attacks

The End of Strategic Stability?

The End of Strategic Stability? PDF Author: Lawrence Rubin
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1626166048
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
During the Cold War, many believed that the superpowers shared a conception of strategic stability, a coexistence where both sides would compete for global influence but would be deterred from using nuclear weapons. In actuality, both sides understood strategic stability and deterrence quite differently. Today’s international system is further complicated by more nuclear powers, regional rivalries, and nonstate actors who punch above their weight, but the United States and other nuclear powers still cling to old conceptions of strategic stability. The purpose of this book is to unpack and examine how different states in different regions view strategic stability, the use or non-use of nuclear weapons, and whether or not strategic stability is still a prevailing concept. The contributors to this volume explore policies of current and potential nuclear powers including the United States, Russia, China, India, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. This volume makes an important contribution toward understanding how nuclear weapons will impact the international system in the twenty-first century and will be useful to students, scholars, and practitioners of nuclear weapons policy.

Meeting America's Security Challenges Beyond Iraq

Meeting America's Security Challenges Beyond Iraq PDF Author: Sarah Harting
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
On December 4, 2007, leading practitioners and analysts in the U.S. defense community conferred on possible approaches to meeting America's future security challenges. Many noted that these challenges, coupled with demands on the military forces, will require significant changes in how the Department of Defense trains, equips, and postures its forces and in how the U.S. government is organized for the advancement of U.S. interests abroad.

The Revolution that Failed

The Revolution that Failed PDF Author: Brendan Rittenhouse Green
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108489869
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
A theoretical analysis and historical investigation of the Cold War nuclear arms race that challenges the nuclear revolution.

The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution

The Meaning of the Nuclear Revolution PDF Author: Robert Jervis
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801495656
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Robert Jervis argues here that the possibility of nuclear war has created a revolution in military strategy and international relations. He examines how the potential for nuclear Armageddon has changed the meaning of war, the psychology of statesmanship, and the formulation of military policy by the superpowers.

Tailored Deterrence

Tailored Deterrence PDF Author: Barry R. Schneider
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780974740386
Category : Arms control
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description


The Second Nuclear Age

The Second Nuclear Age PDF Author: Paul Bracken
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1429945044
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
A leading international security strategist offers a compelling new way to "think about the unthinkable." The cold war ended more than two decades ago, and with its end came a reduction in the threat of nuclear weapons—a luxury that we can no longer indulge. It's not just the threat of Iran getting the bomb or North Korea doing something rash; the whole complexion of global power politics is changing because of the reemergence of nuclear weapons as a vital element of statecraft and power politics. In short, we have entered the second nuclear age. In this provocative and agenda-setting book, Paul Bracken of Yale University argues that we need to pay renewed attention to nuclear weapons and how their presence will transform the way crises develop and escalate. He draws on his years of experience analyzing defense strategy to make the case that the United States needs to start thinking seriously about these issues once again, especially as new countries acquire nuclear capabilities. He walks us through war-game scenarios that are all too realistic, to show how nuclear weapons are changing the calculus of power politics, and he offers an incisive tour of the Middle East, South Asia, and East Asia to underscore how the United States must not allow itself to be unprepared for managing such crises. Frank in its tone and farsighted in its analysis, The Second Nuclear Age is the essential guide to the new rules of international politics.

The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century PDF Author: Brad Roberts
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804797153
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
“An excellent contribution to the debate on the future role of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence in American foreign policy.” ―Contemporary Security Policy This book is a counter to the conventional wisdom that the United States can and should do more to reduce both the role of nuclear weapons in its security strategies and the number of weapons in its arsenal. The case against nuclear weapons has been made on many grounds—including historical, political, and moral. But, Brad Roberts argues, it has not so far been informed by the experience of the United States since the Cold War in trying to adapt deterrence to a changed world, and to create the conditions that would allow further significant changes to U.S. nuclear policy and posture. Drawing on the author’s experience in the making and implementation of U.S. policy in the Obama administration, this book examines that real-world experience and finds important lessons for the disarmament enterprise. Central conclusions of the work are that other nuclear-armed states are not prepared to join the United States in making reductions, and that unilateral steps by the United States to disarm further would be harmful to its interests and those of its allies. The book ultimately argues in favor of patience and persistence in the implementation of a balanced approach to nuclear strategy that encompasses political efforts to reduce nuclear dangers along with military efforts to deter them. “Well-researched and carefully argued.” ―Foreign Affairs