ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some of the broader politico-military and arms control contexts for the viability of any minimum nuclear deterrence regime. It also discusses minimum deterrence within a spectrum of broader deterrence/arms control options and evaluates the deterrence and crisis stability of some alternative minimum deterrence regimes. The idea of minimum deterrence has caught fire among civilian and military policy analysts and other close students of nuclear arms control. Russia's weaker conventional forces relative to North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) place more burden on its strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons to cover a wider range of deterrent situations and conflicts. The technical immaturity of missile defenses relative to offenses is less impressive for Russian pessimists than are their doubts about American and NATO intentions. Nuclear weapons are thought by some states to confer prestige and to provide a cost-effective entry into the ranks of major military powers.
