NTI’s Lynn Rusten on Defense Department’s New Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction
The DoD’s new CWMD strategy, last updated in 2014, comes at a time when longstanding norms against nuclear use are being tested.
Regional Leadership Networks Discuss No-First-Use
In August, the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) released
a statement encouraging the United States to adopt a nuclear No First Use policy
and calling on its Pacific allies to support it. The statement was signed by more
than 40 APLN members, including leaders and experts from U.S. allies Australia,
Japan and South Korea and nuclear weapons possessing states China, India, and
Pakistan.
Adding to the discussion, the European Leadership Network
(ELN) commissioned two commentaries in September on no-first-use, examining the
arguments both for and against the policy.
In their piece opposing
a No First Use policy, Franklin C. Miller, former Special Assistant to
President George W. Bush, and Keith B. Payne, former US Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense, argue that the policy would create uncertainty among U.S.
allies and threaten the credibility of deterrence strategy.
In contrast, Carlo Trezza, former Chairman of the
multilateral Missile Technology Control Regime, argues that adopting
a no-first-use policy would diffuse growing international tensions and
reduce the risk of nuclear war.
Read APLN’s statement here.
Read the commentary for the ELN by Franklin C. Miller and
Keith B. Payne here,
and the commentary by Carlo Trezza here.
Click here to
learn more about the regional leadership networks.
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