Do Nuclear Numbers Matter

Russia and China and the Politics of Nuclear Coercion
Do Nuclear Numbers Matter
U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev shake hands after signing the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) at the Prague Castle in Prague on April 8, 2010. Dmitry Astakhov/Ria Novosti/AFP via Getty Images
|Updated:
Commentary

Last year, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) concluded that both Russia and China are increasingly dependent on nuclear weapons to achieve their national interests. Combined, they are projected to exceed the U.S. strategic nuclear force in numbers, creating a multiple challenger problem for the United States and raising the possibility of a dangerous collaboration between adversaries.

Peter Huessy
Peter Huessy
Author
Peter R. Huessy is the president of Geo-Strategic Analysis and senior fellow of the National Institute for Deterrent Studies.