Category: Deterrence

Cold War, Deterrence, Nuclear WeaponBy E.Fermi

Dropshot: The American Plan for World War III

War plan “Dropshot” arose from the military planners’ conviction that World War III was inevitable and that the only deterrent available to the U.S. was superiority in nuclear stockpiles. Dropshot led to requests by the military to increase the production of nuclear weapons, which the president approved. Thus, the decision to build a facility to increase production of nuclear weapon components was approved, and that facility would be the Rocky Flats Plant. The world changed in late August 1949 when the Soviet Union detonated an exact duplicate of the Trinity device several years before some had estimated that it was possible (not knowing the efficiency of their spy networks). A “WB-29 weather reconnaissance plane on routine patrol from Japan to […]

Cold War, Deterrence, Russian spyingBy E.Fermi

Deterrence Theory

Deterrence theory gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons. It took on a unique connotation during this time as an inferior nuclear force, by virtue of its extreme destructive power, could deter a more powerful adversary, provided that this force could be protected against destruction by a surprise attack. Deterrence is a strategy intended to dissuade an adversary from taking an action not yet started, or to prevent them from doing something that another state desires. A credible nuclear deterrent, Bernard Brodie wrote in 1959, must be always at the ready, yet never used. In Thomas Schelling’s (1966) classic work on deterrence, the concept that military strategy can […]