Author: Jasjit Singh
Manpreet Sethi/
Publisher: Knowledge World
Year: 2004
Language: English
Pages: 265
ISBN/UPC (if available): 818796605X
Description
Deterrence has been part of human conflict and its prevention for centuries. But nuclear weapons gave it a unique, if apocalyptic, dimension of deterrence through mutually assured destruction, aptly called MAD. The Cold War bestowed on it the quality of grand strategy linking as it did, deterrence with arms control and strategic stability.
Thus, while deterrence was pursued through threat of causing grievous hurt vying with annihilation, diplomacy sought to construct a framework where the powerful sought to retain their advantage while pressing for reducing that of the adversary or completely denying it to others. And this came to be termed non-proliferation, keeping its vertical dimension outside any questioning.
Wherever and whenever an adversary required the ability to counter superior capabilities, arms control acquired the shape of strategic stability through diplomatic negotiations. But all this was easier during the bipolar confrontation of the Cold War, and with its end, they lost their original context. To a large extent, the arms control and non-proliferation regime so painstakingly crafted and negotiated during the past five-odd decades started to be obsolescent in the emerging multilateral strategic environment. And, hence, the drift toward unilateralism, whether formally declared or not.
Meanwhile, nuclear deterrence has been undergoing changes due to the increasing vulnerability of states and society in a globalizing and increasingly interdependent world. Recognising the fundamentally political nature of the role of nuclear weapons, China and India evolved an approach to nuclear deterrence quite different from that adopted by others. And they seem to have succeeded equally well so far, with unquestionably lower costs and risks. Written by two leading experts in the field, this book explores the changes taking place in nuclear deterrence and diplomacy at the beginning of the 21st century, especially as they related to India and its security.
Contents
Acronyms
Preface
Defence in a Period of Change
Nuclear Deterrence and Arms Control
The NPT: An Indian Perspective
India’s Stake in the CTBT
FMCT: The Last of Nuclear Arms Control?
Ballistic Missile Defences: Whither Nuclear Deterrence?
Weaponisation of Outer Space
Reducing Nuclear Weapons, increasing Nuclear Dangers
Devaluing Nuclear Weapons: Difficult, But Desirable
Future of Nuclear Deterrence: Credibility and Consequences
Nuclear Doctrine for Defence
Disarmament in India’s Nuclear Strategy