1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820121303321

Autore

Koblentz Gregory D. <1974->

Titolo

Strategic stability in the second nuclear age / / Gregory D. Koblentz

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, New York : , : Council on Foreign Relations, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-87609-612-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (65 p.)

Collana

Council Special Report ; ; Number 71

Disciplina

355.0217

Soggetti

Strategic forces

Nuclear nonproliferation

Deterrence (Strategy)

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Contents; Foreword; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Strategic Landscape of the Second Nuclear Age; Challenges to Strategic Stability; Conclusion and Policy Recommendations; Endnotes; About the Author; Advisory Committee for Strategic Stability in the Second Nuclear Age; Council Special Reports

Sommario/riassunto

"During the Cold War, the potential for nuclear weapons to be used was determined largely by the United States and the Soviet Union. Now, with 16,300 weapons possessed by the seven established nuclear-armed states -- China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States -- deterrence is increasingly complex. Since most of these countries face threats from a number of potential adversaries, changes in one state's nuclear policy can have a cascading effect on the other states. Though many states are downsizing their stockpiles, Asia is witnessing a buildup; Pakistan has the fastest-growing nuclear program in the world. By 2020, it could have a stockpile of fissile material that, if weaponized, could produce as many as two hundred nuclear devices. The author identifies South Asia as the region 'most at risk of a breakdown in strategic stability due to an explosive mixture of unresolved territorial disputes, cross-border terrorism, and growing nuclear arsenals'. Emerging technologies such as missile defenses, cyber and antisatellite weapons, and conventional precision strike



weapons pose additional risks, Koblentz warns, and could potentially spur arms races and trigger crises. The United States should work with other nuclear states to address sources of instability in the near term and establish processes for multilateral arms control efforts over the longer term, writes Koblentz. He urges the Obama administration to enhance initiatives that foster transparency, confidence-building, and restraint to mitigate the risk that emerging technologies will trigger arms races, threaten the survivability of nuclear forces, or undermine early warning and nuclear command and control systems; deepen bilateral and multilateral dialogues with the other nuclear-armed states; and create a forum for the seven established nuclear-armed states to discuss further steps to reduce the risk of deliberate, accidental, or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons"--Publisher's web site.