A World of Risk: The Current Environment for US Nuclear Weapons Policy
Karthika Sasikumar, Former Liu Postdoctoral Fellow, UBC
October 1, 2006
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To purchase a copy of this publication, please visit: http://cisac.stanford.edu/publications/us_nuclear_weapons_policy_confronting_todays_threats/
The edited volume “U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy: Confronting Today’s Threats“, edited by George Bunn and Christopher F. Chyba, features this chapter by Karthika Sasikumar, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Simons Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Research.
What role should nuclear weapons play in today’s world? How can the United States promote international security while safeguarding its own interests? U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy informs this debate with an analysis of current nuclear weapons policies and strategies, including those for deterring, preventing, or preempting nuclear attack; preventing further proliferation, to nations and terrorists; modifying weapons designs; and revising the U.S. nuclear posture.
Presidents Bush and Clinton made major changes in U.S. policy after the cold war, and George W. Bush’s administration made further, more radical changes after 9/11. Leaked portions of 2001’s Nuclear Posture Review, for example, described more aggressive possible uses for nuclear weapons. This important volume examines the significance of such changes and suggests a way forward for U.S. policy, emphasizing stronger security of nuclear weapons and materials, international compliance with nonproliferation obligations, attention to the demand side of proliferation, and reduced reliance on nuclear weapons in U.S. foreign policy.
