INR 2001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, Mutual Assured Destruction, Nuclear Winter
Document Summary
The tendency of states to view the defensive arming of adversaries as threatening, causing them to arm in response, so that all states" security declines (mutual fear) A condition of mutual deterrence in which both sides possess the ability to survive survive a first strike with weapons of mass destruction and launch a devastating retaliatory attack. Occurred with us and soviet union after near nuclear exhange during the cuban missle crisis. Under these circumstances, initiating a nuclear war was not a rational choice, the frightening costs outweighed any conceivable benefits nuclear utilization theory (nuts) According to nuts, it is possible to wage and win a limited nuclear war. Deterrence and defense strategies have not changed, only the types of weapons available have. Nuts claims that this limited nuclear war would consist of tageting an adversary"s warheads, as opposed to their cities, in order to destroy their nuclear arsenal and therefore gain victory.
