ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War demands a radical reassessment of the role of nuclear weapons in international politics. To date, the major nuclear powers have begun a process that is slowly bringing them down their monuclear ladder both ascended, often with precious little thought, during 40 years of confrontation. As Defense Secretary Richard Cheney told Congress in July 1992, the START-II limit of 3,500 strategic nuclear weapons represents the minimum number of forces the United States will need in the post-Soviet, post-Cold War world. The United States and Russia can and must go further down the thermonuclear ladder, initially to perhaps as low as 200 weapon on each side. This conclusion is based on the belief that the only remaining role for nuclear weapons in the post-Cold War world is that of insurance to remind whomever might think otherwise of their inescapable vulnerability to nuclear devastation.
