New Technology, Stability and the Arms Control Deadlock: Part II

Abstract

The impact of technological change on the stability of the nuclear balance and the risk of war has been long debated by military analysts and practitioners. Recently, however, this fairly arcane and elusive subject has had a major impact on American politics and, prospectively, on the security policies of the United States. Although never stated explicitly, by embracing a negotiated nuclear weapons ‘freeze’ as its primary goal, the popular arms-control movement (and the Democratic Party in its 1984 platform) has accepted the view that the danger of nuclear war stems primarily from the modernization of weapons.