Introduction

The very strategic community that seeded and nurtured nuclear deterrence is now called upon to judge a major revision of its doctrine. The theory of deterrence has been rooted in two assumptions: US nuclear superiority and the extension of deterrence—the will to escalate from conventional war—that only US nuclear superiority can guarantee with confidence. The president's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was presented as a visionary fork in the road. SDI is not just another future weapons system. It is both an instrument and a signal of historical change. A conventional approach to strategic defenses and American national security would focus on the strict utility of potential systems. Defense against nuclear attack has emerged from an eroding American strategic position, a stance that many believe is losing the respect of allies and adversary and, at last, of Americans themselves.