Report on “Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons”
The Center for Arms Control, Energy and Environmental Studies at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology released an English translation of on “Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons. Problems of Control and Reduction”.
The report analyzes place and role of Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons (NSNW) in Russian, US, and NATO nuclear doctrines, asseses their NSNW arsenals, studies their approaches towards problems of NSNW control and reductions, and suggests possible solutions to these problems.
The Introduction analyzes the current state of affairs in the sphere of control and reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons. Particularly, it is concluded that after the 1987 INF Treaty and the 1991 Presidential initiatives, no noticeable steps have been made.
Chapter 1 is devoted to problems of classification of nuclear weapons. There is no common view among nuclear arms control experts on what tactical (non-strategic) nuclear weapons are. One of the reasons is that objectively, it is rather difficult to choose criteria that would help differentiate between strategic and non-strategic arms unambiguously. Other reasons that make classification difficult are also considered. Classification used in the report is based on provisions of the START-I Treaty, and according to it strategic nuclear weapons are the US and Russian ones that are covered by START-I limitations, including nuclear warheads attributed to them, while non-strategic nuclear weapons are US and Russian weapons that are not considered to be strategic.
Chapter 2 analyzes place and role of NSNW in Russia's nuclear doctrine, gives an assessment of the Russian NSNW arsenal, and briefly describes nuclear safeguard measures.
Chapter 3 provides an assessments of the US NSNW, analyzes place and role of NSNW in the present-day American nuclear policy, the current status of the US non-strategic nuclear forces, and planning issues; also considered are current US discussions that question the need to maintain NSNW, as well as issues related to development of new non-strategic nuclear weapons.
Chapter 4 analyzes the NATO nuclear doctrine, provides assessments of NATO nuclear forces and of the US nuclear forces in Europe, and considers legal aspects of its deployment and use. The Chapter also analyzes contradictions of the NATO nuclear strategy in view of its extension to the East and in connection with provisions of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Chapter 5 analyzes US and Russia's attitudes towards controllable reductions of NSNW and discusses why progress in the sphere of control and reductions of NSNW would be in the interest of all concerned; suggested are possible ways to solve this problem.
The full report is available as a PDF file at www.armscontrol.ru.
