ABSTRACT
The purpose of "no first use" is to confine nuclear missions to the sole mission of deterrence, and set the stage for abolition. Then a compelling logic can be invoked: if all nuclear weapon states commit to "no first use," and if all nuclear weapon states believe that there are non-nuclear means to stop any new nuclear aspirant, then the only purpose of nuclear weapons-deterrence-no longer exists, and they could be abolished. The conventional objection to "no first use" is that it is only a promise, on which no other state would rely, but that entirely misses the point. If "no first use" were practiced in actual fighting between nuclear weapon states, it would also guard against uncontrolled escalation. The Soviet Union, and then Russia, had adopted "no first use" as policy, but in 1993, when Russian conventional forces were depleted and in disarray, gave it up.
