Reducing Nuclear Danger: The Road Away from the Brink

The end of the U.S.-Soviet standoff and the increasing risk of political adventurers such as Saddam Hussein developing nuclear capability have profoundly altered the shape of global nuclear danger. In Reducing Nuclear Danger, three of America's top experts on nuclear affairs offer a thoughtful prescription for effective international action to cut existing nuclear arsenals and to prevent further proliferation. They argue that the United States must take a cooperative leadership role to achieve worldwide control of nuclear weapons. The immediate tasks to this end are to execute the already agreed-upon reductions in U.S. and Russian forces, ensure that Russia remains the only nuclear state of the former Soviet Union, and substantially strengthen the international efforts against the spread of nuclear weapons. The authors favor adopting a strict doctrine of using nuclear weapons only as a "defensive last resort, " along with other specific changes in current policy. Prominent in their prescriptions is an eventual drastic reduction of the current Russian-American warhead ceilings. They also advocate a new policy for American leaders - toward other nations as well as the American people - of open public explanation of nuclear danger. This important and insightful book on the current nuclear danger should be read by all citizens with an interest in resolving what remains our greatest global risk, at a time of unprecedented opportunity.