The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy: Why Strategic Superiority Matters (Bridging the Gap)

About this book

For decades the reigning scholarly wisdom about nuclear weapons policy has been that the United States only needs the ability to absorb an enemy nuclear attack and still be able to respond with a devastating counterattack. This argument is reasonable but empirically we see that the US has always maintained a nuclear posture that is much more robust than a mere second-strike capability. In The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy Matthew Kroenig challenges the conventional wisdom and explains why a robust nuclear posture above and beyond a mere second-strike capability contributes to a states national security goals. In fact when a state has a robust nuclear weapons force such a capability reduces its expected costs in a war provides it with bargaining leverage and ultimately enhances nuclear deterrence. Buoyed by an innovative thesis and a vast array of historical and quantitative evidence this book provides the first coherent theoretical explanation for why military nuclear advantages translate into geopolitical advantages. In so doing it resolves one of the most-intractable puzzles in international security studies.