Nuclear weapons

Zakaria is correct in pointing out that the unresolved dilemma of nuclear weapons remains the single most important issue facing humanity. It has been so since shortly after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Indeed, Bernard Brodie, recognizing the unacceptable costs of the atomic age, designed a new nuclear deterrence war doctrine. ¹ He argued that nuclear weapons should only be used in a retaliatory action. This principle, with some significant lapses, has guided US nuclear war policies for generations. During the Cold War, the concept of deterrence was temporarily amended so that nuclear weapons could also be used to compel changes in the behavior of an adversary. But this adjustment from deterrence to compellence soon faded after it became apparent that the United States, despite holding a commanding nuclear arsenal, found it impossible to use nuclear forces to roll back the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary.