№ 3, 2024. Nuclear Deterrence as a Belief System

July 12, 2024

Nothing New Under the Sun

The existence of NWs is no longer justified by the (perceived) need to deter an attack by a mortal ideological opponent. Nuclear deterrence looks today as if it has become an end in itself. There is no longer the need to deter against someone but simply the need for deterrence as such. There is thus a deeply disconcerting perception among NNWS that the United States and Russia (followed by the other NWS) are trapped in a highly dangerous Cold War thought-system which renders them incapable of addressing and solving the NWs issue in a fundamental way, let alone giving up NWs.

Alexander Kmentt

Today, we are pleased to recall the article of Mr. Alexander Kmentt, Director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Department of the Austrian Foreign Ministry and President of the June 2022 First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW, “Nuclear Deterrence as a Belief System,” which was initially published in Security Index Occasional Paper Series No. 2 (103), Vol. 19, 2013.

Key words: Arms control; International security

AC

F4/SOR – 24/07/12