Deployment of Strategic Nuclear Weapons: Toward an Alternative Paradigm

With respect to the deployment of nuclear weapons, deep divisions separate citizens, policy makers, and analysts. It is reasoned that such divisions arise from different fundamental assumptions concerning how a nuclear war might occur. By addressing these assumptions, this paper suggests new alternatives for the deployment of nuclear weapons. The professional engineering community can provide an independent forum where such alternatives can be examined and discussed. Without such an independent forum, conflicts within society are likely to deepen and dangerous instabilities in policy could result.