Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Author: Alistair Millar
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2003-07-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612344437

For three decades, arms control treaties have provided a legal basis for limiting and reducing long-range nuclear weapons. However, thousands of sub-strategic, or tactical, nuclear weapons (TNWs) are not monitored or controlled by any existing treaties or formal agreements, even though they can pose security risks equal to or exceeding those of strategic nuclear weapons. As the world has seen, the rise of international terrorism highlights the potential dangers of tactical nuclear weapons. Because they can be relatively small and portable-particularly but not exclusively in the case of so-cal.

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO (Enlarged Edition)

Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO (Enlarged Edition)
Author: Thomas M. Nichols
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013-05-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781304074850

"NATO has been a "nuclear" alliance since its inception. Nuclear weapons have served the dual purpose of being part of NATO military planning as well as being central to the Alliance's deterrence strategy. For over 4 decades, NATO allies sought to find conventional and nuclear forces, doctrines, and agreed strategies that linked the defense of Europe to that of the United States. Still, in light of the evolving security situation, the Alliance must now consider the role and future of tactical or non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNWs). Two clear conclusions emerge from this analysis. First, in the more than 2 decades since the end of the Cold War, the problem itself -- that is, the question of what to do with weapons designed in a previous century for the possibility of a World War III against a military alliance that no longer exists -- is understudied, both inside and outside of government. Tactical weapons, although less awesome than their strategic siblings, carry significant security and political risks, and they have not received the attention that is commensurate to their importance. Second, it is clear that whatever the future of these arms, the status quo is unacceptable. It is past the time for NATO to make more resolute decisions, find a coherent strategy, and formulate more definite plans about its nuclear status. Consequently, decisions about the role of nuclear weapons within the Alliance and the associated supporting analysis are fundamental to the future identity of NATO. At the Lisbon Summit in Portugal in November 2010, the Alliance agreed to conduct the Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR). This effort is designed to answer these difficult questions prior to the upcoming NATO Summit in May 2012. The United States and its closest allies must define future threats and, in doing so, clarify NATO's identity, purpose, and corresponding force requirements. So far, NATO remains a "nuclear alliance," but it is increasingly hard to define what that means."--Publisher's website

Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Author: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2020-11-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000200493

In the 1970s tactical nuclear warfare was a topical issue. The introduction of the new generation of tactical nuclear weapons into Europe could have had disastrous consequences. These new weapons had already been developed by nuclear-weapon laboratories and pressures were growing for their deployment. On first sight, smaller and more accurate nuclear weapons may seem more humane and militarily preferable to the relatively high-yield tactical nuclear weapons currently deployed. But some of these new types of weapons would blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional weapons and their use would make escalation to strategic nuclear war extremely likely. Indeed, the argument for these new weapons is that their use in wartime is more credible (and therefore ‘acceptable’) than current types of tactical nuclear weapons. This perception could easily lead to the exceedingly dangerous idea that some types of tactical nuclear war were ‘winnable’. The fact has to be faced that any use of nuclear weapons is almost certain to escalate until all available weapons are used. To believe otherwise is to believe that one side will surrender before it has used all the weapons in its arsenal. History shows that this is most unlikely to happen. Because of its importance, SIPRI organized a meeting to discuss the whole question. Originally published in 1978, this book is the outcome of that meeting.

Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Southeast Asia, 1967

Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Southeast Asia, 1967
Author: Freeman J. Dyson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780756733018

This report, issued in 1967 by the Institute for Defense Analyses, was formerly secret but was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by the Nautilus Institute Nuclear Policy Project. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the military consequences of a U.S. decision to use tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Southeast Asia, under the assumption that the Vietnam War remained theater-limited and that no strategic exchange occurs. The study divides into two main parts: (1) possible targets for U.S. TNW, and the effects of nuclear bombardment on the ground war if the use of TNW remains unilateral; and (2) the possibility and effectiveness of enemy retaliation with nuclear weapons supplied by the USSR or China.

Russia's Crumbling Tactical Nuclear Weapons Complex

Russia's Crumbling Tactical Nuclear Weapons Complex
Author: Stephen P. Lambert
Publisher:
Total Pages: 64
Release: 1997
Genre: Nuclear arms control
ISBN:

As politicians and policy makers trumpet the successes of strategic reductions and the achievements of the START agreements, Russia has increasingly focused on a rhetorical and doctrinal campaign to enhance the credibility of nuclear war fighting threats by legitimizing theater or tactical nuclear systems. The Russian Federation is convinced that its security rests upon these weapons, and it has therefore attempted to shield both the personnel and the hardware from the effects of the military rollback. The notion that the two largest possessors of nuclear weapons could speedily draw down their arsenals to under 2000 warheads, as a START 3 regime suggests, is misguided. This ignores the thousands of so called tactical nuclear weapons possessed by both states. The very real threats associated with Russia's tactical nuclear arsenal should impel those with genuine concerns to redirect their efforts toward the lower end of nuclear weapons spectrum. The arms control proposal presented in this paper incorporates a regime calling for the elimination of air delivered tactical nuclear weapons that may prove to be a useful model for reinvigorating the stalled process of nuclear arms reductions.

Restricted Data

Restricted Data
Author: Alex Wellerstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 558
Release: 2021-04-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 022602038X

"Nuclear weapons, since their conception, have been the subject of secrecy. In the months after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the American scientific establishment, the American government, and the American public all wrestled with what was called the "problem of secrecy," wondering not only whether secrecy was appropriate and effective as a means of controlling this new technology but also whether it was compatible with the country's core values. Out of a messy context of propaganda, confusion, spy scares, and the grave counsel of competing groups of scientists, what historian Alex Wellerstein calls a "new regime of secrecy" was put into place. It was unlike any other previous or since. Nuclear secrets were given their own unique legal designation in American law ("restricted data"), one that operates differently than all other forms of national security classification and exists to this day. Drawing on massive amounts of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time at the author's request, Restricted Data is a narrative account of nuclear secrecy and the tensions and uncertainty that built as the Cold War continued. In the US, both science and democracy are pitted against nuclear secrecy, and this makes its history uniquely compelling and timely"--

Nuclear Weapons under International Law

Nuclear Weapons under International Law
Author: Gro Nystuen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 804
Release: 2014-08-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1139992740

Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.

Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons

Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2005-10-06
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309096731

Underground facilities are used extensively by many nations to conceal and protect strategic military functions and weapons' stockpiles. Because of their depth and hardened status, however, many of these strategic hard and deeply buried targets could only be put at risk by conventional or nuclear earth penetrating weapons (EPW). Recently, an engineering feasibility study, the robust nuclear earth penetrator program, was started by DOE and DOD to determine if a more effective EPW could be designed using major components of existing nuclear weapons. This activity has created some controversy about, among other things, the level of collateral damage that would ensue if such a weapon were used. To help clarify this issue, the Congress, in P.L. 107-314, directed the Secretary of Defense to request from the NRC a study of the anticipated health and environmental effects of nuclear earth-penetrators and other weapons and the effect of both conventional and nuclear weapons against the storage of biological and chemical weapons. This report provides the results of those analyses. Based on detailed numerical calculations, the report presents a series of findings comparing the effectiveness and expected collateral damage of nuclear EPW and surface nuclear weapons under a variety of conditions.

The Nuclear Taboo

The Nuclear Taboo
Author: Nina Tannenwald
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2007-12-20
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521524285

Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' in favour of what she calls a nuclear taboo - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, the forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War 1991) and examines how the nuclear taboo has repeatedly dissuaded US and other world leaders from resorting to these 'ultimate weapons'. Through a systematic analysis, Tannenwald challenges conventional conceptions of deterrence and offers a compelling argument on the moral bases of nuclear restraint as well as an important insight into how nuclear war can be avoided in the future.

Nuclear Weapons And Foreign Policy

Nuclear Weapons And Foreign Policy
Author: Henry A. Kissinger
Publisher: Highlyy Publishing LLP
Total Pages: 339
Release: 2023-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9395522216

Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy is a landmark work that offers a groundbreaking analysis of one of the most pressing issues of our time. Written by Henry Kissinger, one of the foremost experts on foreign policy, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the role of nuclear weapons in shaping international relations. First published in 1957, this book remains as relevant today as it was when it was first written. In it, Kissinger offers a clear-eyed and insightful analysis of the strategic calculations and geopolitical realities that have driven the development and deployment of nuclear weapons. Drawing on his extensive experience as a scholar and policymaker, Kissinger provides a detailed examination of the ways in which nuclear weapons have influenced the behaviour of states and shaped the course of world events. He explores the complex relationships between nuclear powers, the dangers of nuclear proliferation, and the potential for nuclear war. Throughout this book, Kissinger argues that a deeper understanding of the strategic dynamics of nuclear weapons is essential to the development of effective foreign policy. He contends that a careful consideration of the risks and benefits of nuclear weapons is essential for policymakers to make informed decisions that promote peace and security. With its seminal analysis and penetrating insights, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy is an essential read for anyone interested in the intersection of nuclear weapons and international relations. It is a valuable resource for scholars, students, policymakers, and anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of this critical issue.