Launching a pre-emptive nuclear attack for any reason short of stopping an inevitable WMD attack against the United States would be contrary to all American traditions and values. A nuclear first-strike capability would be the ultimate military advantage, giving the United States enough force to threaten the survival of any rival. As Russia's nuclear arsenal continues to shrink with age, a significant NMD could give the United States, for the first time in the nuclear age, a true 'first-strike' capability-the ability to launch a pre-emptive attack destroying enough of Russia's nuclear force to permit the NMD to intercept any residual retaliation. nuclear doctrine and force structure, but the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which codified deterrence as the basis of strategic stability throughout the Cold War, has become a barrier to the limited national defenses that can help meet new threats without upsetting strategic stability.Ĭhallenges to the Cold War arms control paradigm have been crystallized by U.S. Similarly, deterrence should remain the foundation of U.S.

Both sides clearly want to reduce their deployed strategic forces further, but the stalled START process has become an impediment rather than a help, and START's detailed numeric controls have become largely irrelevant to addressing current threats from weapons of mass destruction (WMD). and Soviet forces in half, and START II, which would essentially cut those forces in half again.īut the significant political and military changes that have taken place in the past decade now challenge the paradigm that allowed for these important agreements. At the end of the Cold War, strategic arms control yielded START I, which cut U.S. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated arms control agreements that led to the prohibition of national missile defenses (NMD), a ceiling on deployed strategic weapons, and the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear forces. The strategic arms control process that for decades has regulated nuclear stability is gridlocked. U.S., Russia Expected to Continue Stability Talks.U.S., Russia Establish Strategic Stability Groups.Banning the Bomb: Smashing the Patriarchy and The Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons: How It Was Achieved and Why It Matters.China Tested Hypersonic Capability, U.S.Nuclear Weapons Policy Experts Praise Biden for Transparency on Nuclear Arsenal.China’s Nuclear Expansion: The Challenges, Implications, and Risk Reduction Options.45 OPCW States Demand Answers About Navalny.Biden-Xi Virtual Summit Should Lead to Agreement on Nuclear Risk Reduction Talks.

How does first strike work