The Functions and Structure of Nuclear Deterrence in the Post-Cold War World

The change reshaping the Soviet Union and other former members of the Communist bloc has also altered the strategic equation for the United States. Given that nuclear weapons and the intense superpower rivalry of 40 years of cold war have helped foster a certain air of predictability in international affairs, the present flux in the international system has created a number of possible security scenarios. The author explores these possibilities as they relate to the strategic future of the Soviet Union, the possible evolution of a new European system of collective security, and the challenges of regional conflict in a multipolar world. Of primary concern is the question of the continued validity of traditional concepts of deterrence in a system characterized by the profusion of advanced military capabilities, which no longer possesses many of the stabilizing strategic counterweights of the cold war.