nuclear deterrence

Question 1

who started the debate

Answer 1

Bernard Brodie and William Borden

Question 2

what did borden argued

Answer 2

nuclear weapons are simply bigger artillery. He is remembered by military specialists for his technically accurate predictions on missile developments.

Question 3

War is possible as long as..

borden

Answer 3

leaders may come to believe that surprise is possible and inevitable between two great powers such as the U.S. and USSR.

Question 4

what would be the key target

borden

Answer 4

Key targets will be military, not cities, as precious nuclear resources will be used to destroy countervailing forces (counterforce) and cities will be left as hostages to the victor (civilians will surrender when they lose the ability to fight).

Question 5

when does city busting occur

borden

Answer 5

occurs after the battle is won. Industry does not matter because the speed of nuclear war relies on initial stockpiles and not ongoing production.

Question 6

what did Brodie argued

Answer 6

that nuclear weapons represented a fundamental change in IR and war. He is strongly supported by academic proponents.

Question 7

according to Brodie, nuclear war is

Answer 7

irrational because nuclear war will cause greater damage than any possible political gain except as a weapon of last resort against conquest.

Question 8

why did nuclear weapons transform the warfare

Brodie

Answer 8

because there is no defense against them and therefore the destruction of one’s cities are guaranteed. The focus therefore becomes one of avoiding the outbreak of war.

Question 9

Nuclear superiority is..

Brodie

Answer 9

non-existent.

Question 10

does sudden surprise attack without prior indications of tension exist
Brodie

Answer 10

no

Question 11

what are non-conventinal weapons deterrence

Answer 11

chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, termed weapons of mass-destruction.

Question 12

when does nuclear weapons deter

Answer 12

if they have second-strike capability

Question 13

what is crystal ball effect

Answer 13

they make the consequences of nuclear war very understandable, and therefore they generally have deter crises and de-escalate those in which they are present.

Question 14

what is rationality of irrationality

Answer 14

States may pretend to be irrational to compel adversaries to back down during crises (thereby risking an outbreak of war)

Question 15

what is stability-instability paradox

Answer 15

Perfect nuclear stability is the outcome of two nuclear weapons arsenals cancelling each other out, and thereby making war safe at a lower level of conflict.

Question 16

an exemple of stability-instability paradox

Answer 16

1969 Russian-Chinese and 1999 India-Pakistan border conflicts

Question 17

what is the Nuclear Threshold Credibility Problem

Answer 17

Lack of credibility because attack under threshold of response ( if you have for exemple nuclear force but not strong conventional force opponent can trigger a crisis at the conventional level )

Question 18

what is the solution of the Nuclear Threshold Credibility Problem

Answer 18

Conventional armies adopt tactical nuclear weapons.

Question 19

what is the Missile Defense Instability

Answer 19

Missile Defense reduces retaliatory enemy second-strike, tempting a nuclear first strike feasible

Question 20

what is the solution of Defense Instability

Answer 20

Ban missile defense

Question 21

what are the two type of deterrence

Answer 21

immediate deterrence and general deterrence failure

Question 22

what is immediate deterrence

Answer 22

when one state seeks to actively deter a threat from another. Immediate deterrence failure is an attack by one state on the deterring state.

Question 23

what is general deterrence failure

Answer 23

when two states are not in confrontation because one state is so much weaker that there is no active confrontation.

Question 24

what are the impact of nuclear weapons

Answer 24

1): Nukes prevent conquest of the state:
But not attacks, even against nuclear states.
2) Create security: wide margin of safety for diplomacy: less need to move first, trade nuclear protection for benefits from allies, ): frees up other resources
3) Swagger appeal: nuclear weapons bring status.

Question 25

what are the Dangerous Illusions of Nuclear Unusability:

Answer 25

(1) : nukes have made war unthinkable: BUT: wars still happen despite nuclear weapons.
(2) : common problems such as the environment have made war irrelevant.
(3) : economic interdependence has made war unthinkable

Question 26

what are The Risks of exercising Nuclear Weapons

Answer 26

(1): Threats and use would accelerate nuclear proliferation: nuclear weapons states.
(2): For most states, only state survival is worth the cost of risking a nuclear war.
However, if states come to believe in a domino theory (that the failure to defend an interest, will result in a cascade failure of all interests), then states may escalate disputes in the presence of nuclear weapons.

Question 27

what is the The Normative Debate of Nuclear Proliferation

Answer 27

There is a significant anti-proliferation arms control architecture focused on limiting the nuclear states that acquire and build nuclear weapons arsenals.