Qualities Precede Quantities
Deciding How Much Is Enough for U.S. Nuclear Forces
Expert InsightsPublished Sep 27, 2023
The discovery that the People's Republic of China is expanding its nuclear arsenal, Russia's "suspension" of the New START arms control treaty and aggression in Ukraine, and North Korea's evolving nuclear capabilities have led some to argue that the United States needs to expand its own nuclear forces to deter these potential adversaries. This Perspective articulates a framework for determining "how much is enough" for U.S. nuclear forces in the emerging strategic environment. The author argues that adversary perceptions, rather than quantitative comparisons, should be the primary criteria for sizing U.S. nuclear forces.
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Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Web-Only
- Year: 2023
- Pages: 28
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/PEA2555-2
- Document Number: PE-A2555-2
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Geist, Edward, Qualities Precede Quantities: Deciding How Much Is Enough for U.S. Nuclear Forces, RAND Corporation, PE-A2555-2, September 2023. As of September 23, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2555-2.html
Geist, Edward, Qualities Precede Quantities: Deciding How Much Is Enough for U.S. Nuclear Forces. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2023. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2555-2.html.
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This Perspective was sponsored by the Smith Richardson Foundation and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Program of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD).
This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.
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