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Warhead Storage Ensures More Than U.S. Nuclear Superiority
January 24, 2002
Summary
The White House said on Jan. 9 that it will not destroy all of the nuclear weapons that would have been decommissioned under a planned U.S.-Russian agreement. The move will ensure that Russia will lose its last vestige of superpower status and that China can never beat Washington in an arms race. But more important, the plan will help preserve the military, political and economic dominance of the United States for decades.
Image Credit: l'Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Analysis
The White House shocked arms-control advocates and Russian disarmament negotiators Jan. 9, when it revealed plans to store, not destroy, most of the 4,000 U.S. nuclear warheads that would have been dismantled under a developing U.S.-Russian disarmament agreement. The move complicates relations with both China and Russia, but the rationale behind it is about much more than maintaining mere numerical superiority in nuclear capacity.
The decision reveals that the United States is finally moving beyond the Cold War security policy of mutually assured destruction (MAD). Stockpiling the warheads will trigger an evolution in the military toward more advanced and readily deployable conventional forces. This will help safeguard U.S. military, political and economic dominance for the next century.
Since long before the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty first entered into force back in 1970, U.S.-Soviet relations were predicated on the premise of mutually assured destruction and strategic parity. With some notable exceptions, such as de-targeting agreements, much of this Cold War balance of power still remained in the post-Cold War era.
The Bush administration's decision to store the warheads instead of destroying them, particularly when combined with Washington's abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM), shatters this pre-existing order. The most immediate effects will be visited upon Washington's former foe Russia -- which is also expected to dismantle around 4,000 nuclear warheads once the new treaty is signed.
(The Rest of the Story)
(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
Dan
Warhead Storage Ensures More Than U.S. Nuclear Superiority . . .