Nuclear Reductions and Middle East Stability: Assessing the Impact of a Smaller US Nuclear Arsenal
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Authors
Russell, James A.
Subjects
Nuclear weapons
extended deterrence
Middle East
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Gulf Cooperation Council
extended deterrence
Middle East
Iran
Saudi Arabia
Gulf Cooperation Council
Advisors
Date of Issue
2013
Date
Publisher
Routledge
Language
Abstract
The United States faces a series of strategic and policy conundrums as it attempts to promote strategic stability in the Persian Gulf and the wider Middle East. This article examines the relationship between a reduced US nuclear arsenal and strategic stability in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East. It argues that a series of interrelated political and military factors play a much more significant role in regional security and stability than the US strategic arsenal, which has never, with a few extraordinary exceptions, played a direct role in maintaining regional security. The United States has constructed a system of regional stability based on conventional deterrence and defense that has seen it forward base forces at various installations in the region in combination with efforts to arm, train, and equip host-nation militaries. Nuclear weapons have never played a prominent role in this regional system. Evidence presented in this article suggests that there is no compelling reason for the United States to abandon and/or modify the defensive system of conventional deterrence and defense by adding nuclear-backed guarantees to the mix.
Type
Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.1080/10736700.2013.799830
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs (NSA)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funder
Format
16 p.
Citation
Russell, James A. "Nuclear Reductions and Middle East Stability: Assessing the Impact of a Smaller US Nuclear Arsenal." The Nonproliferation Review 20.2 (2013): 263-278.
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.