NUCLEAR STRATEGY AND CATHOLICISM: A REAPPRAISAL

Abstract

During the Cold War sections within the Catholic Church reached an uneasy compromise on the moral validity of nuclear strategy. As an ‘interim ethic’ the dominant Catholic position accepted the legitimacy of nuclear deterrence, but rejected many of the doctrines that underpinned nuclear strategy at the time. Since the end of the Cold War this position has come under increased scrutiny from within the Church. Some commentators claim that the time has come for the Church to officially jettison any vestiges of the interim ethic and reject nuclear strategy outright on moral grounds. Others argue that the Church's position is unsustainable from a strategic perspective. This paper presents a reappraisal of the Catholic position on nuclear strategy. In particular, the work assesses whether there is any common ground between the Strategic Studies approach to nuclear strategy and the Catholic position. The paper concludes that, with evolution in both perspectives, limited congruence can be expanded to produce a new nuclear strategy that satisfies both strategy and Catholic teaching.