The logic of American nuclear strategy: Why strategic superiority matters by Matthew Kroenig, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018, 280 pp., £23.49, (HB), ISBN 9780190849184

Craig, Campbell ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4872-2403 2022. The logic of American nuclear strategy: Why strategic superiority matters by Matthew Kroenig, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2018, 280 pp., £23.49, (HB), ISBN 9780190849184. Journal of Strategic Studies 45 (1) , pp. 161-165. 10.1080/01402390.2020.1798582

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Matthew Kroenig’s The Logic of American Nuclear Strategy endeavours to demonstrate that the United States derives substantial advantages from deploying a large, war-winning nuclear arsenal. In particular, he uses case studies of nuclear crises during (and a few after) the Cold War to attempt to show that states with larger arsenals tend to prevail in direct showdowns, and to argue therefore that the United States should beef up its forces in order to prepare to fight, and win, a nuclear war with rivals such as Russia or China. This would enable the US to compel these rivals to back down in putative crises, or, if they do not, to win the war that may ensue. In making this case, he tries to show that his ‘superiority-brinksmanship’ theory provides both a better explanation of nuclear showdowns than competing arguments, such as basic second-strike deterrence logic, and a better blueprint for US policy-makers in the present day.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Cardiff Law & Politics
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
ISSN:	0140-2390
Last Modified:	30 May 2024 13:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167776

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item