Superpower nuclear minimalism in the post-Cold War era

Conference · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/01440389208403997· OSTI ID:6650252

Graben, E K

With the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, the strategic environment has fundamentally changed, so it would seem logical to reexamine strategy as well. There are two main schools of nuclear strategic thought: a maximalist school, which emphasizes counterforce superiority and nuclear war-fighting capability, and a MAD-plus school, which emphasizes survivability of an assured destruction capability along with the ability to deliver small, limited nuclear attacks in the event that conflict occurs. The MAD-plus strategy is the more logical of the two strategies, because the maximalist strategy is based on an attempt to conventionalize nuclear weapons which is unrealistic.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6650252
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-92-889-Rev.; CONF-9203134-1-Rev.; ON: DE93008715
• Resource Relation: Journal Volume: 13; Journal Issue: 3; Conference: International Studies Association annual conference, Atlanta, GA (United States), 31 Mar - 3 Apr 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL PROTECTION
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
MINIMIZATION
MILITARY STRATEGY
USA
USSR
ASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
NORTH AMERICA
WEAPONS
350200* - Arms Control- Proliferation- (1987-)