Battlefield Nuclear Weapons, Issues and Options

Battlefield nuclear weapons (BNW) have become a major Alliance concern. In the wake of the INF Treaty, the superpower summit at Reykjavik, and the proposals of Mikhail Gorbachev, NATO is reevaluating nearly every aspect of its defense posture. This book is designed to contribute to that reevaluation by analyzing what deterrent value BNW have, and whether they offer the military capability necessary to offset the potential damage to Alliance cohesion. To help sort out answers to these questions, CSIA held a conference on BNW, organized by fellows Stephen Biddle and Peter Feaver. This paper, in presenting the results of that conference, has three purposes: to introduce the issues raised by BNW in the post-INF era, to present a survey of the specialist debate, and to analyze the disagreements underlying the debate. Co-published with Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University.