Back to First Principles: U.S. Strategic Forces in the Emerging Environment

📖 The Scoop

For 40 years, U.S. defense planners had the luxury of confronting a geopolitical environment whose basic nature varied little. Now, however, the momentous events of the last few years have altered this state of affairs as the old order gives way to a post-Cold War world. The time is therefore ripe to revisit the basic precepts of U.S. national security strategy, i.e., to return to first principles. This report undertakes a part of that task, the part limited to the realm of what are commonly labeled 'strategic' forces: long-range nuclear strike weapons-which include intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and long-range bombers-and the defenses used against them. For example, why does the U.S. need such forces, and what national objectives are they expected to support? How might these objectives, or their relative priorities, change in response to the emerging security environment? How can choices among objectives be rigorously translated into criteria relevant to strategic force planners?

Genre: No Category (fancy, right?)