Arms control and the rule of law: National measures for enforcement and verification
Much has been written about the deterrence strategies that justified the arms race. Walter Slocombe explained that {open_quotes}[t]he dominant problem of U.S. nuclear strategy is credibly using U.S. nuclear power to deter and if necessary resist nonnuclear as well as nuclear threats to America`s allies, forces, and interests overseas.{close_quotes} As a result, the {open_quotes}flexible response{close_quotes} doctrine was developed to declare {open_quotes}that the United States, in consultation with its allies, is prepared to use nuclear weapons should other means of protection from Soviet attack threaten to fail.{close_quotes} In contrast, Freeman Dyson pointed out the Soviet Union was committed to the concept of {open_quotes}counterforce,{close_quotes} which meant that {open_quotes}if the Soviet Union sees a nuclear attack coming or has reason to believe that an attack is about to be launched, the Soviet Union will strike first at the attacker`s weapons with all available forces, and will then do whatever is necessary in order to survive.{close_quotes} Out of these military postures a tense peace ironically emerged, but the terms by which decisions were made about controlling weapons of mass destruction (i.e., nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons) were the terms of war. The thesis of this paper is that the end of the Cold War marks a shift away from reliance on military might toward an international commitment to control weapons of mass destruction through the `rule of law.`
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 503484
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/DIS/CP-93055; CONF-9704128-1; ON: DE97006923; TRN: 97:004476
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Contemporary issues in controlling weapons of mass destruction, Durham, NC (United States), 19 Apr 1997; Other Information: PBD: 19 Apr 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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