On September 14, with many thanks to the National Security Archive and Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library, a group of documents describing Carter’s plans for nuclear war were declassified. Presidential Directive 59 (PD-59), entitled Nuclear Weapons Employment Policy, was controversial following its summer 1980 release. PD-59, also known as the countervailing strategy, sought to strengthen deterrence of the Soviet Union by holding at risk the Soviet Union’s ability to wage nuclear war and maintain its power, refining selective nuclear strike options, providing the President with both a full range of pre-planned options for nuclear use and the flexibility to adapt its nuclear strike plans depending on the situation, and demonstrating the US ability to engage in a protracted nuclear conflict if necessary. Whether this strategy actually strengthened deterrence remains contested.
There’s a Reason Mitt Romney Doesn’t Want to Talk About National Security
Another post over at the Doctrine blog today, this time taking a look at President Obama’s national security record.
2012 DNC Platform on Nuclear Weapons
As the Democratic National Convention continues this week in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Obama Administration and the Democratic Party have reasserted their intent to move towards a world free of nuclear weapons. The Democratic Party Platform released Monday states, “[we] believe we must address the threat that nuclear weapons pose to our security and to peace in the world.” It then adds, “President Obama and the Democratic Party are committed to preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons and to eventually ridding the planet of these catastrophic weapons.” Also outlined in the platform are the party’s stances toward Iran, Russia, North Korea, securing loose nuclear materials, reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles and warheads, and preventing nuclear proliferation.
The Facts According to Bill Gertz
Take, for example, his apparent scoop last week that a Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks. Two days after Gertz broke the story, Pentagon spokeswoman Wendy Snyder stated: “I don’t know what that information was based on, but it was not correct.” Perhaps the Pentagon is wrong, but that sounds like a categorical denial to me.
NATO: Still Fighting the Last (Cold) War
NATO released a deterrence and defense posture review in May during the alliance’s summit in Chicago, but as I point out in a piece on our website, NATO is still clinging to outdated ideas rather than looking to the current and future security environment:
At the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago, the alliance had the chance to make changes that would more efficiently address 21st Century security challenges. Instead, it chose to remain mired in Cold War thinking. A review of its Deterrence and Defense Posture that was released during the summit calls nuclear weapons a “core component” of NATO capabilities and advocates no changes to current posture, even though the status quo includes antiquated systems and a missed opportunity to clarify and harmonize policies on when nuclear weapons might be used.
