GOV 312L Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Mutual Assured Destruction, Nuclear Triad, Conventional Warfare
NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND NUCLEAR DETERRENCE
Nuclear Weapons and Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
● First nuclear weapons were developed during WWll by scientists working for the Us
government on the top secret Manhattan Project
○ Developed the atomic bomb
○ Later scientists developed hydrogen bombs
● US government wanted to develop nuclear weapons to achieve political goals
○ They were competing with other global powers in a race to develop atomic
weapons because of the advantages this powerful weapon offered to the states
● Dropping the atomic bomb ended WWii
○ Less American casualties than a land invasion of Japan
○ Persuaded the Soviet Union to stay out of the Pacific War and allowed for the
subsequent American occupation and reconstruction of Japan
● The atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first and only
atomic weapons ever used in combat
● If a nuclear war broke out between the Soviet Union and the US during the Cold War it
would have produced unimaginable losses
● Nine states have successfully developed nuclear weapons
○ US and Russia have the majority of the worlds nuclear weapons
○ China, Britain, France, India, and Pakistan have at least 100 nuclear warheads
while Israel has 80
○ North Korea has a smaller amount of nuclear weapons
● States have developed new delivery systems that have transformed warfare by
shortening the time required for nuclear weapons to travel to their targets
○ Missile Systems often include multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles
(MIRVs) that allow a single missile to carry multiple nuclear warheads capable of
hittle multiple targets at once
■ This makes it hard to defend against
● Nuclear states use a variety of delivery systems known as the nuclear triad of
land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), strategic bombers, and
submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to safeguard their nuclear arsenal against
a surprise first strike
● Mutually assured destruction (MAD)
○ This depends on each state possessing a second-strike capability
■ Ability to survive a first-strike nuclear attack with sufficient nuclear
warheads intact and operational to launch a counterattack that would be
damaging enough to outweigh any benefits that would be gained from
launching a surprise attack in the first place
● In the Cold War, once the Soviet Union attained a substantial
nuclear arsenal, it was able to threaten the US with nuclear
annihilation in response to a first strike
Document Summary
First nuclear weapons were developed during wwll by scientists working for the us government on the top secret manhattan project. Us government wanted to develop nuclear weapons to achieve political goals. They were competing with other global powers in a race to develop atomic weapons because of the advantages this powerful weapon offered to the states. Less american casualties than a land invasion of japan. Persuaded the soviet union to stay out of the pacific war and allowed for the subsequent american occupation and reconstruction of japan. The atomic bombs that were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki were the first and only atomic weapons ever used in combat. If a nuclear war broke out between the soviet union and the us during the cold war it would have produced unimaginable losses. Nine states have successfully developed nuclear weapons. Us and russia have the majority of the worlds nuclear weapons.
