ABSTRACT
Even before it became a nuclear power Mao Tse-tung’s China announced that it would never be the first to use nuclear weapons. Such a commitment, even if not very seriously meant at the time, clearly involved no great risk. In the world today, there co-exist two entirely different weapon systems, the nuclear and the conventional, the power of the former being such that—should circumstances permit its use—the latter would become entirely ineffective. A state enjoying military superiority runs no risk in announcing that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons, since in a war fought with conventional arms the larger forces at its disposal will be ample for its defense. Many Americans, and especially those who favor no-first-use, still fail to grasp how great is the imbalance between East and West, even leaving nuclear forces out of the account.
