Deterring America

By Derek D. Smith

Book Overview

Faced with America's military superiority, many countries are turning to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a means to deter United States intervention. However, the events of September 11 awakened America to a degree of vulnerability it had never experienced before, making it increasingly unwilling to tolerate such weapons in the hands of unstable and unpredictable regimes. Through theoretical, historical, and prescriptive lenses, this book explores the modern security dilemma created by the twin fears of American encroachment and vulnerability which form a vicious cycle of insecurity that challenges traditional notions of deterrence. Using Iraq and North Korea as case studies, Smith argues that the United States may need to re-evaluate its foreign policy strategies against WMD proliferation, giving renewed attention to defensive measures, negotiated disarmament, interdiction, and perhaps preemption.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521683130
• ISBN13: 9780521683135
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

It's A New World Out There!

Smith tells us that the world is no longer a standoff of the titans; rather, it's now one superpower and several major powers. Conflict is now much more likely between mismatched nations vs. the U.S., and assured destruction is no longer mutual in the same way. New "rogue" states (eg. Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) and terrorists no longer offer the simple "MAD" (mutually assured destruction) of prior decades. Crazies, hypersensitivity regarding honor, and potential foreign-states' delegation of "button-pushing" power down the military chain of command have created a new environment. And then there's the terrorist nightmare - smuggling a nuclear weapon into the United States, possibly supplied by a rogue state. Reality is that it is impossible to defend the U.S. against all threats. We need to reduce the motivation for others to want to harm us - eg. our prior interventions in Iran and Iraq, stationing troops (including females) in Saudi Arabia, and lopsided support for Israel have created enormous and dangerous hatred for the U.S. (This is simply a recognition of the new reality, and DOES NOT EXCUSE 9/11!) The U.S. spends about as much on defense as the rest of the world combined - yet, we are quite insecure, and "Deterring America" helps explain why. Obviously, something is wrong with our thinking.

Facing a Different Future

The American military showed the world what they could do during Gulf War I and during the combat phase of Gulf War II. The big lessons was clear: The American way of war had improved so much that fighting them was not unlike the days of the British rifles and machine guns against native spears. American stealth aircraft couldn't be shot down. The radars, command and control systems, anti-aircraft weapons simply didn't work against them. The American command and control systems were so much better than those of the Iraqi Army that the quality of equipment like tanks didn't have to be better. And the tanks were better. I was visiting the Winchester military ammunition booth at a trade show when an officer just back from Gulf I came by and told the Winchester salesman 'Thank You. Your ammunition goes through the armor of any tank the Iraqi army had, and their ammunition bounced off of our tanks.' The conclusion is really quite simple. If you want to fight against the Americans you either have to out wait them while they kill lots of your people (the North Vietnam approach), or you have to have weapons of Mass Destruction (Iran, North Korea). This book talks about what the rogue states are doing, and how the ideas about deterring the United States are being formulated in the rest of the world. It's clear that the 'mutual assured desctuction' or MAD doctrine doesn't work the same way it did with the Soviet Union. It's points are interesting. Unfortunately we will have to wait several years to see how it all turns out.