The Commitment Trap: Why the United States Should Not Nuclear Threats to Deter Biological and Chemical Weapons Attack

“This article discusses the issues of whether the threat of U.S. nuclear retaliation is credible and effective against states that possess chemical weapons (CW) and biological weapons (BW) and whether U.S. nuclear threats are harmful to global efforts to inhibit the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It addresses said issues and argues that the current debate has virtually ignored what is arguably the most important question about U.S. nuclear weapons doctrine: will the U.S. government’s calculated ambiguity policy increase or decrease the likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used in combat?”

Author:
Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISC)
Publish Date:
2000