Articles and Reports on the Role of Nuclear Weapons in the Post-Cold War Era
(Compiled by Hans M. Kristensen)
"Targets of Opportunity: How Nuclear Planners Found New Targets for Old Weapons":
http://www.bullatomsci.org/issues/1997/so97/so97kristensen.html.
This article describes the gradual expansion of US nuclear strategy that followed the ending of the Cold War. It focuses on the role of nuclear
weapons in deterring "rogue" states from using weapons of mass destruction. An expanded report based on this article is available at
http://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/nfuture2.pdf[PDF].
"US Nuclear Strategy Reform in the 1990s": http://www.nautilus.org/nukepolicy/USA/StratRef.html.
This report reviews the evolution of US nuclear strategy and policy in the 1990s, including the increasing role against "rogue"
states armed with weapons of mass destruction. It also describes China's return to SIOP planning, following a break of nearly two
decades.
"The Matrix of Deterrence: U.S. Strategic Command Force Structure Studies":
http://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/matrix.html. This study reviews six studies of US nuclear forces and arms control policy that Strategic
Command conducted between 1991 and 1996. The studies were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and reveal important information about
why the US nuclear posture and policy evolved as it did in the 1990s. Summaries and copies of the force structure studies are available online at
http://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/USA/Force/index.html.
"The Unruly Hedge: Cold War Thinking at the Crawford Summit":
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2001_12/kristensennov01.asp. Article in the December 2001 issue of Arms Control Today about the nuclear
cuts announced at the November 2001 Crawford Summit. The article points out that the reductions only affects some weapons while many others
will be moved to a reserve of thousands of "unaccountable" warheads. Maintenance of clandestine nuclear stockpiles undermine US-Russian relations
and efforts to bring Russian warheads and fissile material under control. The article discloses for the first time the existence of the B-1 Nuclear
Rerole Plan, a secret air force plan to return the "conventional-only" B-1
bomber to its former nuclear strike mission within months if necessary. Description and copy of the B-1 Nuclear Rerole Plan is available
at http://www.nautilus.org/nukestrat/USA/Bombers/b1rerole.html.
A detailed overview of world nuclear forces, written for the 2001 SIPRI Yearbook:
http://projects.sipri.se/nuclear/06A.pdf[PDF]. All of this research and writing is based on the use of the Freedom of Information Act
to obtain declassified military and policy planning and historical documents. The work has been funded by grants from the MacArthur Foundation
and the Ploughshares Fund. With the results of the forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review expected to be announced in late December or early 2002,
this material may be of particular interest to the Nuclear Forum and to the Institute of International Studies. For your information, the research
and documentation has been used by other universities, including the Political Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania:
http://www.ssc.upenn.edu/polisci/courses/syllabi/PS151f01.doc[MS Word],
and the East Asian International Relations program at the University of Texas:
http://link.lanic.utexas.edu/~bennett/__338/jp_nukes.htm.
Hans M. Kristensen
Senior Researcher
The Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainable Development
Email: hkristensen@nautilus.org
Website: http://www.nautilus.org/
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