eBook

Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era

Narang, Vipin

2014,2015

Overview

The world is in a second nuclear age in which regional powers play an increasingly prominent role. These states have small nuclear arsenals, often face multiple active conflicts, and sometimes have weak institutions. How do these nuclear states-and potential future ones-manage their nuclear forces and influence international conflict? Examining the reasoning and deterrence consequences of regional power nuclear strategies, this book demonstrates that these strategies matter greatly to international stability and it provides new insights into conflict dynamics across important areas of the world such as the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia. Vipin Narang identifies the diversity of regional power nuclear strategies and describes in detail the posture each regional power has adopted over time. Developing a theory for the sources of regional power nuclear strategies, he offers the first systematic explanation of why states choose the postures they do and under what conditions they might shift strategies. Narang then analyzes the effects of these choices on a state's ability to deter conflict. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, he shows that, contrary to a bedrock article of faith in the canon of nuclear deterrence, the acquisition of nuclear weapons does not produce a uniform deterrent effect against opponents. Rather, some postures deter conflict more successfully than others. Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Eraconsiders the range of nuclear choices made by regional powers and the critical challenges they pose to modern international security.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: Aircraft / Arms Control / Ballistic missile / Ballistic missile submarine / Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists / Calculation / Case studies / China / Cold War / Conventional weapon / Counterforce / Credible minimum deterrence / De facto / Deterrence (Strategy) / Deterrence (Strategy) -- Case studies / Early modern Europe / Foreign policy / Global catastrophic risk / Government policy / Gulf War / High-value target / Indian Army / India–Pakistan relations / Inference / International Relations / International security / Kargil War / Massive retaliation / Materiel / Militarized interstate dispute / Military doctrine / Military operation / Missile defense / National security / Neorealism (international relations) / Nuclear blackmail / Nuclear power / Nuclear proliferation / Nuclear reactor / Nuclear strategy / Nuclear umbrella / Nuclear warfare / Nuclear warfare -- Government policy -- Case studies / Nuclear weapon / Nuclear weapons / Nuclear weapons -- Government policy -- Case studies / Nuclear weapons testing / Pakistan / Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction / Peacetime / People's Liberation Army Rocket Force / POLITICAL SCIENCE / POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General / Pre-emptive nuclear strike / Prediction / Preventive war / Princeton University Press / Regional power / Scott Sagan / Security studies / Security, International / Security, International -- Case studies / Short-range ballistic missile / Sino-Soviet split / South Asia / Soviet Union / Strategic nuclear weapon / Submarine-launched ballistic missile / Superiority (short story) / Tactical nuclear weapon / Technological determinism / Technology / Territorial integrity / Thermonuclear weapon / Total war / Uncertainty / United States Intelligence Community / War / Warsaw Pact / Weapon of mass destruction / Weapon system / Yom Kippur War
• ISBN: 1400850401, 9781400850402, 9780691159829, 0691159831, 9780691159836, 0691159823