Future Roles of U.S. Nuclear Forces: Implications for U.S. Strategy

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S. has reexamined its basic assumptions about foreign policy and instruments of national security policy. This study examines the possible roles of nuclear weapons in contemporary U.S. national security policy. For most foreseeable combat situations, advanced conventional weapons are probably sufficiently effective if there are enough of them and they're used properly. Nuclear weapons remain the final guarantor of U.S. security, and the U.S. might wish to retain the traditional threat of nuclear retaliation to deter threats to its national existence. At the same time, it should have the operational flexibility to in fact use a modest number of nuclear weapons if the need was overwhelming and other options were inadequate. Training should include use of nuclear weapons in exercises. Any nuclear strategy the U.S. chooses will require a different set of nuclear forces and operations practices than it has now.