The new NPR broadens “extreme circumstances” to mean responding to non-nuclear aggression on infrastructure and civilian population in the U.S. and its allies with low-yield weapons. The new NPR conveniently distances the U.S. from any moral high ground, or the promise to eschew nuclear aggression against non-nuclear weapons states that complied with the non-proliferation regime. The new policy emphasis on low-yield weapons lends credence to the view that the renovation and upgrade of U.S. nuclear arsenals is being seen as an excuse to build usable nukes. To that extent, it merely reflects the larger dynamics of the 21st century arms race among the superpowers to amass smaller and supposedly less destructive nuclear weapons. Arms control experts have bemoaned the implication of the NPR as potentially blurring the distinction between conventional and nuclear conflict.

Source: The Hindu February 12, 2018 18:45 UTC