A "second nuclear age" has begun in the post-Cold War world. Created by the expansion of nuclear arsenals and new proliferation in Asia, it has changed the familiar nuclear geometry of the Cold War. Increasing potency of nuclear arsenals in China, India, and Pakistan, the nuclear breakout in North Korea, and the potential for more states to cross the nuclear-weapons threshold from Iran to Japan suggest that the second nuclear age of many competing nuclear powers has the potential to be even less stable than the first. Strategy in the Second Nuclear Age assembles a group of distinguished scholars to grapple with the matter of how the United States, its allies, and its friends must size up the strategies, doctrines, and force structures currently taking shape if they are to design responses that reinforce deterrence amid vastly more complex strategic circumstances. By focusing sharply on strategy - that is, on how states use doomsday weaponry for political gain - the book distinguishes itself from familiar net assessments emphasizing quantifiable factors like hardware, technical characteristics, and manpower. While the emphasis varies from chapter to chapter, contributors pay special heed to the logistical, technological, and social dimensions of strategy alongside the specifics of force structure and operations. They never lose sight of the human factor - the pivotal factor in diplomacy, strategy, and war.
1. IntroductionToshi Yoshihara and James R. Holmes 2. After Proliferation: Deterrence Theory and Emerging Nuclear Powers Joshua Rovner 3. South Africa's Nuclear Strategy: Deterring "Total Onslaught" and "Nuclear Blackmail" in Three StagesHelen E. Purkitt and Stephen F. Burgess 4. The Future of Chinese Nuclear Policy and StrategyChristopher T. Yeaw, Andrew S. Erickson, and Michael S. Chase 5. North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program: Motivations, Strategy, and DoctrineTerence Roehrig 6. Changing Perceptions of Extended Deterrence in JapanJames L. Schoff 7. Thinking About the Unthinkable: Tokyo's Nuclear OptionJames R. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara 8. The Influence of Bureaucratic Politics on India's Nuclear StrategyAnupam Srivastava and Seema Gahlaut 9. The Future of India's Undersea Nuclear DeterrentAndrew C. Winner 10. Pakistan's Nuclear Posture: Thinking about the Unthinkable?Timothy D. Hoyt 11. Regime Type, Nuclear Reversals, and Nuclear Strategy: The Ambiguous Case of IranScott A. Jones and James R. Holmes 12. Conclusion: Thinking About Strategy in the Second Nuclear AgeToshi Yoshihara and James R. Holmes Contributors Index
