Articles

Pakistan has developed tactical nuclear weapons to deter India from executing its Cold Start war doctrine. India, however, has disavowed that doctrine. Further, the use of such weapons against Indian troops inside Pakistan would kill and injure countless civilians, while risking massive nuclear retaliation by India. In this International Security article, Jaganath Sankaran argues Pakistan should reconsider the role of tactical nuclear weapons in its military strategy.

China currently has far fewer nuclear weapons than the U.S., possibly the fewest of the five original nuclear weapons states. But if China feels threatened by the deployment of U.S. missile defenses, that could well change.

"A major overhaul of the Frontier Corps in terms of its mandate, service conditions, new training facilities and improved promotion prospects has the potential to rejuvenate the force. However, this is a long-term project, and there is little prospect that it can be transformed quickly to tackle the menace of Talibanisation."

"Kayani's assumption of military leadership leaves a weakened president with even less power. While Kayani is loyal to Musharraf for now, efforts to boost morale and improve public perceptions of the military will take priority over the protection of an unpopular civilian president."

"...China is worried about how U.S. space weaponization plans might affect Chinese national security, international security, and protection of the space environment...."

"Chinese officials have expressed a growing concern that U.S. space and missile defense plans will stimulate a costly and destabilizing arms race...."

This paper was written for the conference "The Challenge of Hiroshima. Alternatives to Nuclear Weapons, Missiles, Missile Defenses, and Space Weaponization in a Northeast Asian Context" organized by INESAP and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation on October 8-11, 2004, in Hiroshima, Japan.

"China is concerned about U.S. missile defense and "space control"plans, which would lead to weaponization of outer space and stimulate a costly and destabilizing arms race. China is further concerned that the US missile defense program, as currently advertised, would neutralize China's strategic nuclear deterrent...."

A universal Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), which would ban the production of fissile material (separated plutonium, highly enriched uranium (HEU), and uranium-233) for nuclear weapons, has long been seen as a key building block in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.