On April 18, 2001 Jan Lodal, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, spoke at the Carnegie Endowment on his recent Council on Foreign Relations study, The Price of Dominance: The New Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Challenge to American Leadership. Jeremy Stone, former President of the Federation of American Scientists, then commented.
In his book Lodal suggests that the absolute military dominance of the United States in the post-Cold War era has encouraged the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by nations seeking to potentially counter U.S. force. His presentation cited the need to relax this trend by altering current U.S. strategic doctrine to renounce first strike nuclear options, reducing deployed warheads to a deterrent force of 1,000, and fashioning ballistic missile defense as a crisis management tool rather than a day-to-day protective shield. Lodal also championed the need for increased international cooperation on intelligence gathering, law enforcement, and treaty compliance as ways in which to promote meaningful and verifiable arms control.
In his comments Jeremy Stone reiterated the broad theme of the need to eliminate first strike capabilities and extended deterrence as a means to reconstruct U.S. nuclear posture. He discussed the opportunities for unilateral arms reductions and changes in military strategy uniquely available to a Republican administration safe from political attacks by the conservative right.
Proliferation News and Resources