Nuclear security
During the Cold War, when the principal actors—the United States and the Soviet Union—both understood the severe consequences of using nuclear weapons, deterrence was a viable cornerstone of international security. But in today’s more complicated global landscape, where the most urgent nuclear threats come from rogue state and non-state actors, deterrence is an unreliable means of ensuring security. Terrorists, by definition, strive to destroy the political objectives of nations like the United States and therefore cannot be deterred. And the rogue North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has purged many of his father’s top advisors, executing as many as 70 officials, leading many to fear that he won’t exhibit the rationality that international observers came to expect of the nuclear states during the Cold War.
During the Cold War, when the principal actors—the United States and the Soviet Union—both understood the severe consequences of using nuclear weapons, deterrence was a viable cornerstone of international security. But in today’s more complicated global landscape, where the most urgent nuclear threats come from rogue state and non-state actors, deterrence is an unreliable means of ensuring security. Terrorists, by definition, strive to destroy the political objectives of nations like the United States and therefore cannot be deterred. And the rogue North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has purged many of his father’s top advisors, executing as many as 70 officials, leading many to fear that he won’t exhibit the rationality that international observers came to expect of the nuclear states during the Cold War.
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