The End of Strategic Stability?
![]() 314 pp., 6 x 9 Hardcover ISBN: 9781626166028 (1626166021) 314 pp., 6 x 9 Paperback ISBN: 9781626166035 (162616603X) eBook ISBN: 9781626166042 E-Inspection Request E-Inspection September 2018 LC: 2017053582 EXPLORE THIS TITLE DescriptionTable of Contents Reviews Contributors |
The End of Strategic Stability?
Nuclear Weapons and the Challenge of Regional Rivalries
Lawrence Rubin and Adam N. Stulberg, Editors
During the Cold War, many believed that the superpowers shared a conception of strategic stability, a coexistence where both sides would compete for global influence but would be deterred from using nuclear weapons. In actuality, both sides understood strategic stability and deterrence quite differently. Today's international system is further complicated by more nuclear powers, regional rivalries, and nonstate actors who punch above their weight, but the United States and other nuclear powers still cling to old conceptions of strategic stability. Lawrence Rubin is an associate professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author and editor of three books, including Islam in the Balance: Ideational Threats in Arab Politics.
Reviews
"This book makes a very thoughtful contribution to the discussion of new security challenges facing the world when the members of the nuclear club are growing and established members are refining their arsenals. . . . This book should definitely be on the reading list of every graduate seminar on international security, and both academics and policymakers must grapple with the weighty questions raised in this book."—H-Diplo "This book deserves a place on the bookshelf for scholars and practitioners who will find in its well curated pages an insightful framework to further the discussion on formulating effective multi-domain deterrence."—Air & Space Power Journal (ASPJ) "Read as a cross-national treatment of strategic stability, the volume has much to offer practitioners interested in the subject. The editors admit that the conception of strategic stability varies from state to state, but the authors do an excellent job framing and putting each state's understanding in context. The book also has much to offer the more general reader who is interested in how various states think about nuclear doctrine today."—Choice "Makes an important and timely contribution towards our understanding of just how nuclear weapons will impact the international system in the twenty-first century. and will be useful to students, scholars, and practitioners of nuclear weapons policy."—Midwest Book Review "Lawrence Rubin and Adam Stulberg have constructed an indispensable map for navigating the second Nuclear Age. This terrific collection illuminates how standard thinking about strategic stability will be upended by emerging technologies, regional proliferation, and the evolution of great power politics. An essential guidebook for understanding the new era of nuclear diplomacy."—Todd S. Sechser, Discovery Professor of Politics, University of Virginia "Strategy stability was a much debated topic during the Cold War era. Today strategic stability has become even more complex with multiple regional players entering the picture with their diverse visions on what constitutes stability or instability. The chapters in this timely volume illuminate our understanding of strategic stability in its multidimensional forms in an era of great uncertainty."—T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations, co-editor, Complex Deterrence: Strategy in the Global Era and author of The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons "Is strategic stability relevant today? Can we even agree on what it means? The United States faces a revanchist Russia that redefined the use of nuclear weapons as a normal extension of conventional conflict. Today's commanders face that and more as nations like Iran and North Korea race toward nuclear capability and all the while threaten its use. Does that mean strategic stability has been cast aside as a framework for cooperation in our future? Certainly not. Rubin and Stulberg have assembled a cast of experts who catch the dynamics of how rivals have understood and misunderstood deterrence and strategic stability. Rubin and Stulberg have aligned these concepts and contributions in a context that allows us to consider how to move forward. This book is absolutely essential reading for both the scholar and the practitioner."—Philip Breedlove, USAF (Ret.), 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Adam N. Stulberg and Lawrence Rubin Part I: General Approaches to Regional Stability 1. Sources of Instability in the Second Nuclear Age: An American Perspective Evan Braden Montgomery 2. The Russian Approach to Strategic Stability: Preserving a Classical Formula in a Turbulent World Andrey Pavlov and Anastasia Malygina 3. Pakistan's View of Strategic Stability: A Struggle between Theory and Practice Sadia Tasleem 4. Strategic Stability in the Middle East: Through the Transparency Lens Emily B. Landau 5. Beyond Strategic Stability: Deterrence, Regional Balance, and Iranian National Security Annie Tracy Samuel Conclusion to Part I: Regional Approaches to Strategic Stability Rajesh Basrur Part II: Cross-Domain Deterrence and Strategic Stability 6. Strategic Stability and Cross-Domain Coercion: The Russian Approach to Information (Cyber) Warfare Dmitry "Dima" Adamsky 7. Conventional Challenges to Strategic Stability: Chinese Perceptions of Hypersonic Technology and the Security Dilemma Tong Zhao 8. The India-Pakistan Nuclear Dyad: Strategic Stability and Cross-Domain Deterrence Happymon Jacob 9. The Road Not Taken: Defining Israel's Approach to Strategic Stability Ilai Z. Saltzman 10. Maintaining Sovereignty and Preserving the Regime: How Saudi Arabia Views Strategic Stability Ala' Alrababa'h Conclusion to Part II: Regional Variations on Deterrence and Stability Jeffrey W. Knopf Part III: Findings and Implications 11. Foreign Views of Strategic Stability and US Nuclear Posture: The Need for Tailored Strategies Matthew Kroenig 12. Implications for US Policy: Defending a Stable International System Adam Mount Conclusion to the Book Lawrence Rubin and Adam N. Stulberg List of Contributors Index Contributors Dmitry AdamskyAla' Alrababa'hRajesh M. BasrurHappymon JacobJeffrey KnopfMatthew KroenigEmily B. LandauAnastasia MalyginaEvan MontgomeryAdam MountAndrey PavlovLawrence RubinIlai SaltzmanAdam N. StulbergSadia TasleemAnnie Tracy SamuelTong Zhao |