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CRS-3
noting at this point, however, that the Bush Administration's policy represents a stark
reversal from trends and debates during the late 1990s. At that time, debates in the
nuclear weapons policy community focused on whether the United States should
retain its relatively small arsenal of nonstrategic nuclear weapons (when compared
with the size of the Russia arsenal) or offer to reduce those weapons as a part of an
effort to reduce and secure the remaining Russian arsenal. The Bush Administration
has quieted discussions about nonstrategic nuclear weapons arms control and has,
instead, begun to consider how the United States can maintain or enhance its own
stockpile of these weapons while discouraging the acquisition of nuclear weapons by
other nations.
In the past few years, however, in response to the Administration's emphasis on
the role that U.S. nuclear weapons can play in deterring or defeating nations armed
with weapons of mass destruction, and in response to requests for funding for studies
on new nuclear weapons, Congress had begun to review and debate the
Administration's plans for U.S. nuclear weapons. These debates have not focused
on the difference between strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons or on the
particular concerns that have been raised about nonstrategic nuclear weapons in the
past decade. Instead, they have explored, in greater detail, Administration requests
for funding for research into new types of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, as the
United States studies possible changes to its nuclear force structure that might
include the deployment of new nuclear weapons, nonstrategic nuclear weapons may
again rise to a higher profile. Congress might then pursue a broader debate about
nonstrategic nuclear weapons and consider further measures to either broaden or
narrow the role of these weapons in U.S. national security policy.
This report provides basic information about U.S. and Russian nonstrategic
nuclear weapons. It begins with a brief discussion of the differences between
strategic and nonstrategic nuclear weapons. It then provides some historical
background, describing the numbers and types of nonstrategic nuclear weapons
deployed by both nations during the Cold War and in the past decade; the policies
that guided the deployment and prospective use of these weapons; and the measures
that the two sides have taken to reduce, eliminate, and, more recently, augment their
forces. The report reviews the issues that have been raised with regards to U.S. and
Russian nonstrategic nuclear weapons, essentially identifying the "problems" many
associate with the continued deployment of these weapons. It concludes with a
review of policy options, or "solutions" for the preceding problems, that might beexplored by Congress, the United States, Russia, and other nations.
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Woolf, Amy F. Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, report, September 9, 2004; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6104/m1/6/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.