The Utility of Nuclear Weapons Today: Two Views

Abstract

No Use: Nuclear Weapons and US National Security. By Thomas M. Nichols Atomic Assistance: How 'Atoms for Peace Programs Cause Nuclear Insecurity. By Matthew Fuhrmann My colleague Steven Metz recently wrote a very thought provoking piece, entitled Thinking About Catastrophe: The Army in a Nuclear Armed World. Metz argues, nothing is more important to American security than weapons. Despite all the fretting over terrorism, hybrid threats, and conventional aggression, only weapons can threaten the existence of the United States and destroy the global economy. (1) Indeed, despite the end of the Cold War and hostilities between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the topic of weapons is vital today. Not a day goes by without reference to weapons in national and international newspapers. For example, the New York Times, in its February 18, 2016 online edition, reported that Belgium police discovered ten hours of video purportedly showing a Belgian official at the home of the Paris attacker, Thierry Werts. Belgium officials argued the terrorist organization network involved in the coordinated attacks on November 13, 2015, that left 130 dead may also have intended to obtain radioactive material for terrorist purposes. (2) Terrorist organizations attempting to acquire weapons to carry out their nefarious activities, and renegade nation-states also continue to challenge the international system and international law by attempting to acquire weapons. The most recent example occurred on February 7, 2016, when the hermit kingdom of Korea tested a bomb and launched a satellite, provoking sharp condemnations from Russia and China as well as South Korea. Despite the fact weapons could be considered obsolete since an attack by one country could result in massive retaliation by another, the United States maintains a huge arsenal on high alert and ready for war. The two books considered in this review discuss the utility of weapons in the post-Cold War era. No Use: Nuclear Weapons and US National Security, by Thomas M. Nichols, a Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval War College in Newport, examines the current state of US doctrine and strategy, the effects of American thinking about weapons on international security, and the various ways the United States might reduce the overall threat of weapons. (12) Why is it so difficult for the major powers, and the United States in particular, to break their addiction? What role should weapons play in America's national security? These are the central questions guiding No Use. (5) While the United States has reduced its stockpiles, it still maintains a considerable number of them. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Are weapons still relevant in the post-Cold War world? Nichols has his doubts. He argues Cold War-era precepts about weapons have continued to dominate security policy and strategies by default. (6) While they may still be considered a good mechanism, other nations may see weapons as aggressive tools in the military arsenal of its opponents. For example, Russian officials, despite their displeasure with Korea for its most recent test and satellite launch, believe the North Korean regime is simply fighting for its own survival, using the logic that when a pack of wolves attacks you, only a fool lowers his gun. (3) Nichols succinctly argues, deterrence will not be strengthened by creating smaller or more accurate bombs or by drawing up military senseless campaigns of desultory strikes. (157) Nichols believes a Armageddon, in the current international system, is unlikely to take place between nation-states. In fact, he contends that without a real threat to the American civilization itself, nuclear weapons are now more an instrument of choice rather than [of] necessity. …