Accession Number:
AD1012753
Title:
Space-Based Counterforce in the Second Nuclear Age
Descriptive Note:
Technical Report
Corporate Author:
Air Command And Staff College Maxwell Air Force Base United States
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
2015-04-01
Pagination or Media Count:
43.0
Abstract:
Some scholars argue that the world has entered the Second Nuclear Age in which nuclear proliferation has invalidated traditional deterrence assumptions. Air Force leaders believe this new multipolar, proliferated world requires new ideas, concepts, and analyses. To address this concern, this paper explores the possibility of limited nuclear wars and how the United States may respond to them. In doing so, it reopens the debate between Thomas Schelling and Herman Kahn regarding the nature of deterrence and reconsiders one of Strategic Air Commands boldest strategic weapons system proposals.