Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

CHAPTER 3
U.S. NUCLEAR WEAPONS POLICY AND
POLICYMAKING:
THE ASIAN EXPERIENCE
Elbridge A. Colby
The author would like to thank Brad Glosserman,
Michael McDevitt, George Packard, <strong>and</strong> Richard
Weitz for their incisive <strong>and</strong> helpful comments. Errors
<strong>and</strong> omissions remain the author’s own.
While U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe have long
been an object of intense study <strong>and</strong> scrutiny, the role
of U.S. nuclear weapons in Asia has received less attention.
Yet U.S. nuclear weapons have played an important
<strong>and</strong> at times central part in U.S. strategy <strong>and</strong>
in the history of the East Asian region. 1 Largely driven
by the nature of Washington’s overarching strategy in
the region <strong>and</strong> its perception of the military balance,
the United States has relied on its nuclear forces to extend
deterrence on behalf of its allies <strong>and</strong> partners <strong>and</strong>
to assure those allies of the effectiveness of that deterrence.
This has ensured that U.S. nuclear weapons
have continued to play a continuing foundational role
in Washington’s strategic posture in the region since
their introduction in the 1940s, even as their relevance
has waxed <strong>and</strong> waned. As the strategic environment
in East Asia grows more uncertain <strong>and</strong> potentially
dangerous for the United States <strong>and</strong> its allies, it is
likely that U.S. nuclear weapons will reemerge as a
consideration for Washington <strong>and</strong> its allied capitals.
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