ABSTRACT

The military applications of nuclear technology have expanded both vertically and horizontally. People in the antinuclear weapons movement propose a variety of policies aiming to diminish nuclear weapons. The diffusion of nuclear weapons has prompted a parallel diffusion of political concern. Nuclear weapons stand at the apex of the technology of force. In the anarchic jungle of international relations, each nation must protect its security by continuing to develop its own independent nuclear weapons capability. Weak or declining nuclear weapons capability enhances the probability of a peace-war transition. The ability to use nuclear weapons may provide continuous deterrence, even in wartime situations, dissuading the enemy from further escalation. Nuclear weapons have an important role in the transition from war to peace. Nuclear weapons threaten the interests and must, therefore, be controlled. Arms control differs dramatically from strategic deterrence in its view of the place of nuclear weapons in the phases of the peace-war cycle.