This book is about the present and future of US extended deterrence commitments in the NATO alliance. NATO is a mutual security treaty backed by the full range of US and allied military capabilities, and the hope has always been that by extending this military umbrella, especially nuclear weapons, adversaries would be deterred from attacking allied countries. Extended deterrence in NATO has been enormously successful, but today its commitments are strained by military budget cuts, anti-nuclear sentiment,and the US shift away from European security during the 2000s and more recently with the Asia pivot. The resurgence of Russia, however, has at least temporarily reinvigorated NATO and made extended deterrence commitments seem more important but also morerisky. This book engages in a cross-sector intellectual exercise, bringing together experts from academia, think tanks and the policy world from the United States, Canada, and Europe to assess the future of US-NATO extended deterrence for regional and international security. The volume also tackles important and controversial debates about the role of nuclear weapons and missile defense, as backbone capabilities in support of extended deterrence.
The Future of Extended Deterrence brings together experts and scholars from the policy and academic worlds to evaluate NATO's nuclear umbrella in today's uncertain security environment. Examining issues like alliance commitments, nuclear weapons policy, nonproliferation, and missile defense, the contributors provide a comprehensive assessment of extended deterrence through the prism of NATO but with implications far beyond.
Are NATO's mutual security commitments strong enough today to deter all adversaries? Is the nuclear umbrella as credible as it was during the Cold War? Backed by the full range of US and allied military capabilities, NATO's mutual defense treaty has been enormously successful, but today's commitments are strained by military budget cuts and antinuclear sentiment. The United States has also shifted its focus away from European security during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and more recently with the Asia rebalance. Will a resurgent Russia change this?
The Future of Extended Deterrence brings together experts and scholars from the policy and academic worlds to provide a theoretically rich and detailed analysis of post--Cold War nuclear weapons policy, nuclear deterrence, alliance commitments, nonproliferation, and missile defense in NATO but with implications far beyond. The contributors analyze not only American policy and ideas but also the ways NATO members interpret their own continued political and strategic role in the alliance.
In-depth and multifaceted, The Future of Extended Deterrence is an essential resource for policy practitioners and scholars of nuclear deterrence, arms control, missile defense, and the NATO alliance.
