Arlington, VA | September 11, 2024 — The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce a new entry in its Policy Paper series, Defending the Record on U.S. Nuclear Deterrence by Gen Kevin P. Chilton, USAF (ret.), Explorer Chair at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence (MI-SPACE).
“In 2018, when I drafted this list of counterarguments to the common myths espoused by the large community of those who do not understand nor want to understand nuclear deterrence, the world felt like a much safer place. There was more time to consider how to modernize our conventional and nuclear forces, Russia had not launched a full invasion into Ukraine, there was no global pandemic, and China’s military modernization had not reached the level of maturity it has today. The current state of the U.S. military, especially the U.S. Air Force, is in an even more precarious position now. However, this only strengthens the argument for a credible nuclear deterrent. As I wrote in 2018, ‘There is simply no conventional weapon equivalency to the power and deterrent effects of nuclear weapons.'”
Gen Kevin P. Chilton, USAF (Ret.), 2024
A version of this essay first appeared in Strategic Studies Quarterly vol. 12, no 1, Spring 2018.
Read our original Policy Paper, On U.S. Nuclear Deterrence
The Mitchell Institute Policy Papers is a series presenting new thinking and policy proposals to respond to the emerging security and aerospace power challenges of the 21st century. These papers are written for lawmakers and their staffs, policy professionals, business and industry, academics, journalists, and the informed public.
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