Arms Control and the Future of Nuclear Weapons

Abstract

Arms control, to include both actual treaties and the arms-control process, has had a notable impact on U.S. nuclear weapons over the past twenty-five years or more. The influence of arms control is likely to continue and, in combination with other factors, to contribute to a substantial reorientation of future U.S. military strategy with narrower, though still crucial, roles for nuclear weapons. In particular:

Already, the United States and the Soviet Union have agreed to eliminate intermediate-range nuclear forces, have agreed to discuss reductions in short- range nuclear weapons, and are nearing completion of negotiated reductions to more equal, comparable, and stable strategic nuclear force levels. Such forces possessed by the superpowers will be highly deterring, but less credibly applicable to actual military plans and political uses.