PRESS RELEASE

1 March 1998

US Nuclear Strategy and
the Third World

A new report, published on Monday, 2 March 1998, reveals that the the United States has actively sought to increase its ability to target non-nuclear countries around the globe for almost a decade. The new guidelines, issued by President Clinton in November 1997, which reportedly call for the use of US nuclear weapons against "rogue" states armed with chemical and biological weapons, merely formalize seven years of expansion of nuclear doctrine.

The report documents how the military now routinely plans for nuclear contingencies against such countries. Nuclear planners are extending targeting data technologies from their Cold War configuration of "Northern Hemisphere only" to obtain a "global capability". (p. 9 of the report)

This development highlights the disharmony between US nuclear doctrine and the "negative security assurances" issued by President Clinton in 1995. (p. 6) The assurances pledge that the United States will not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Non-nuclear states are expected to demand that these assurances are strengthened at an NPT meeting in April. Yet under the new guidelines, non-nuclear NPT countries which possess biological or chemical weapons could be subject to nuclear strike.

The report, based on documents obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act, shows that despite the Clinton Administration's rhetorical support for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, the US military sees "increasingly capable Third World threats" as an important justification for maintaining an "enduring" US nuclear arsenal. (p. 7) The documents reveal harsh criticism of the Administration's negative security assurance from within the military: "(I)t is not in the nation's interest to forswear the uncertainty as to how we would respond to clear and dangerous threats of other weapons of mass destruction." (p. 14)

The US nuclear arsenal is in the middle of a multi-billion dollar upgrade to make it capable of "adaptive planning", quickly shifting between a greater number of limited contingencies all over the world. (p. 9) New modifications of a number of US nuclear weapons are underway, which will add new capabilities suitable for targeting potential weapons of mass destruction proliferators. (p. 18)

Daniel Plesch, BASIC's Director, stated: "This report highlights a disturbing trend. As demonstrated time and again, nuclear weapons are unusable in today's world. Planning for their use is dangerously irrelevant, and prevents the creation of an effective non-proliferation regime."

Author Hans Kristensen added: "Third World contingencies have become prominent drivers in US nuclear planning during the post-Cold War era. This threatens to hamper the disarmament process and grant nuclear weapons an enduring role. Our nuclear policy ought to be to reduce the role of nuclear weapons, not extend it, and limit the nuclear contingencies to fewer regions of the world, not expand them."

Executive Summary of the report

Download a copy of the report
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For more information, please contact:

Stephen Young at +1-202-785-1266; 
Nicola Butler at +44-171-925-0862; or 
Hans Kristensen at +1-510-215 9356

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