1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910970982403321

Titolo

The Future of U.S. nuclear weapons policy / / Committee on International Security and Arms Control, National Academy of Sciences

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Washington, DC, : National Academy Press, 1997

ISBN

9780309174640

0309174643

9780309518376

0309518377

9780585002002

0585002002

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (118 p.)

Disciplina

355.02/17/0973

Soggetti

Nuclear weapons - Government policy - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Foreword -- Contents -- Executive Summary -- 1 Why Change U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy? -- 2 Current U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy -- 3 A Regime of Progressive Constraints -- 4 Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons -- APPENDIX A Biographical Sketches of Committee Members -- APPENDIX B The Buildup and Builddown of Nuclear Forces.

Sommario/riassunto

The debate about appropriate purposes and policies for U.S. nuclear weapons has been under way since the beginning of the nuclear age. With the end of the Cold War, the debate has entered a new phase, propelled by the post-Cold War transformations of the international political landscape. This volume-based on an exhaustive reexamination of issues addressed in The Future of the U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Relationship (NRC, 1991)-describes the state to which U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and policies have evolved since the Cold War ended. The book evaluates a regime of progressive constraints for future U.S. nuclear weapons policy that includes further reductions in nuclear forces, changes in nuclear operations to preserve deterrence but enhance operational safety, and measures to help prevent proliferation



of nuclear weapons. In addition, it examines the conditions and means by which comprehensive nuclear disarmament could become feasible and desirable.