on Facebook
on Twitter
on YouTube
Document Information
The Challenge of Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries
North Korea’s test of a nuclear weapon in 2006 shows that such weapons are within reach of determined regional powers. Thus, defense planners in the United States and elsewhere must begin now to confront the new security challenges posed by nuclear-armed regional adversaries. While U.S. conventional and nuclear forces will continue to have deterrent effects on the leaders of regional adversaries such as North Korea and Iran, the dynamics of the deterrent balance vis-à-vis these actors may be quite different from that to which the United States became accustomed during the Cold War. The weakness of these states at the conventional level, coupled with the high stakes they will have at risk in a conflict with the United States, could lead them to seriously consider brandishing or using nuclear weapons in a conflict. This, in turn, could compel U.S. leaders to temper their military and political objectives in such conflicts. To improve the United States’ military and political leverage in these situations, a great deal more needs to be done to develop and field capabilities, such as multilayered theater missile defenses and improved surveillance and target-tracking capabilities, that can prevent the enemy’s use of nuclear weapons.
See Also:
Support RAND Research — Buy This Product!
Paperback Cover Price: $21.00
Discounted Web Price: $18.90
Pages: 78
ISBN/EAN: 9780833042323
Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.
RAND makes an electronic version of this document available for free as a public service. If you find this information valuable, please consider purchasing a paper copy of the full document to help support RAND research.
Use Adobe Acrobat Reader version 7.0 or higher for the best experience.
Contents
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
The Uniquely Destructive Capabilities of Nuclear Weapons
Chapter Three:
Characteristics of Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries
Chapter Four:
Strategies and Actions of Nuclear-Armed Regional Adversaries
Chapter Five:
Implications for U.S. Military Strategy, Operations, and Planning
The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force and conducted by RAND Project AIR FORCE.
This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND monographs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.
Permission is given to duplicate this electronic document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND PDFs to a non-RAND Web site is prohibited. RAND PDFs are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND Permissions page.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.
* RAND research is conducted across divisions, centers, and projects; these organizational components are represented in the "Related RAND Divisions" section above.
Top
RAND® is a registered trademark. Copyright © 1994-2009 RAND Corporation. Last Modified: January 05, 2009 