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U.S. Department of Energy
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Limited war, escalation control, and command, control and communications. Master's thesis

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5404969

This thesis is an unclassified examination from a Western perspective of the concepts of limited war, and escalation control in the context of nuclear conflict and command, control and communications (C3). Limited war and escalation control are intrinsically related. To better understand the relationships betweenlimited war, escalation control and C3, as applied to the question of protracted nuclear war, this thesis considers strategic control from a cybernetic view, using a widely accepted model for the command and control process. US strategic C3 systems are discussed from the perspective of limiting war and controlling escalation. Requirements such as, a viable National Command Authority, effective command and control, positive/negative control, damage control/assessment, a shared concept of limited war, civil defense, and a mechanism to terminate conflict are presented as necessary to control escalation, thus, limiting war.

Research Organization:
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA (USA)
OSTI ID:
5404969
Report Number(s):
AD-A-167141/1/XAB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English