Publication

This monograph wonders whether deep cuts in the US's strategic nuclear arsenal would compromise Washington’s ability to deter competitors and discourage further proliferation. It concludes that a smaller force would probably hamper the country's ability to preserve strategic stability with a nuclear peer, deter the use of such weapons by hostile regional powers, and promote a viable anti-proliferation agenda. Given these probabilities, the US should not go below the ceiling established in the New START Treaty and implement its already planned nuclear modernization programs.