65004 external_news 1300362488 1475893461 <![CDATA[Nunn on Deterrence in the Age of Nuclear Proliferation]]> "As long as there has been war, there have been efforts to deter actions a nation considers threatening. The advent of the nuclear weapon introduced entirely new factors. It was possible, for the first time, to inflict at the beginning of a war the maximum casualties. The doctrine of mutual assured destruction represented this reality. Deterrence based on nuclear weapons, therefore, has three elements: It is importantly psychological, depending on calculations for which there is no historical experience. It is therefore precarious. It is devastating. An unrestrained nuclear exchange between superpowers could destroy civilized life as we know it in days. Mutual assured destruction raises enormous inhibitions against employing the weapons." 

This excerpt from commentary by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, Distinguished Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, former U. S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz, former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry,  and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger appeared in Wall Street Journal (online edition), March 7, 2011.

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