Strategic defense and the American ethos. Can the nuclear world be changed

Book · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:6299053

Vlahos, M

The concept and utility of strategic defense should be evaluated in an embracing cultural context defined by the values, attitudes, and world-view of society - its ethos. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) responds both to changes in the American ethos and to shifts in the balance of power. Together, these changes have undermined the basis of U.S. force posture and alliance relationships of the nuclear era: deterrence through the threat of nuclear retaliation. Dr. Vlahos argues that SDI offers an escape from a strategic cul-de-sac and provides an alternative to a national security policy many Americans believe to be unworkable. Those Americans who reject SDI do so on the grounds that it is technologically infeasible or that only arms control - not more weapons - can secure peace. Yet even less-than-perfect defenses, Vlahos continues, could serve important limited goals. Initially, limited defenses could enhance deterrence. As defenses evolved, the author suggests, they might reshape the strategic environment, shifting the emphasis of U.S.-Soviet competition away from ballistic missiles and the primacy of offensive nuclear forces. This book links the larger cultural process from which strategic posture is ultimately derived to the utility of strategic defenses. If strategic defenses are a product of cultural pressures, they must also promote the goal of such pressures: enhanced national security. This is the promise of SDI.

• OSTI ID: 6299053
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
ETHICAL ASPECTS
FORECASTING
POLITICAL ASPECTS
EVALUATION
FOREIGN POLICY
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
NATIONAL SECURITY
NUCLEAR DETERRENCE
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PROLIFERATION
SOCIOLOGY
USA
USSR
ASIA
COOPERATION
EASTERN EUROPE
EUROPE
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
NATIONAL DEFENSE
NORTH AMERICA
SECURITY
WEAPONS
350200* - Arms Control- Proliferation- (1987-)
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology
292000 - Energy Planning & Policy- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
293000 - Energy Planning & Policy- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation