U. S. Nuclear Weapons Policy; Independent Task Force Report No. 62

Perry, William J. (Chair), and Scowcroft, Brent (Chair), and Ferguson, Charles D. (Project Director)

ISBN 10: 0876094205 / ISBN 13: 9780876094204

Published by Council on Foreign Relations, New York, 2009

About this Item

xxii, 125, [1] pages. Occasional footnotes. Acronyms. A Note on Definitions. Additional or Dissenting Views. Endnotes. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Task Force Members included Linton Brooks,Ashton Carter, John Deutch, John Gordon, Eugene Habiger, and Laura Holgate. Ink notations on page 113. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), founded in 1921, is a United States nonprofit think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. It is headquartered in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Its membership, which numbers 4,900, has included senior politicians, former secretaries of state, CIA directors, bankers, lawyers, professors, and senior media figures. The CFR meetings convene government officials, global business leaders and prominent members of the intelligence and foreign-policy community to discuss international issues. CFR publishes the journal Foreign Affairs, and runs the David Rockefeller Studies Program, which influences foreign policy by making recommendations to the presidential administration and diplomatic community, testifying before Congress, interacting with the media, and publishing on foreign policy issues. The Task Force report, titled U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy, focuses on near-term policies to reduce nuclear weapons to the lowest possible level consistent with maintaining a credible deterrent, while also ensuring that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is safe, secure, and reliable for as long as it is needed. "The imperative before the Obama administration," the report says, "is to use all available tools to prevent the use and further acquisition of nuclear weapons." The Task Force is comprised of eminent leaders of the national security community and is directed by CFR Senior Fellow Charles D. Ferguson.The report notes that "Iran's nuclear program poses the most significant challenge to strengthening the rules-based nonproliferation regime and preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East." The Task Force underscores that bolstering the global nonproliferation regime is the best way to contain the threat of proliferation posed not only by Iran, but also by North Korea and other potential nuclear states.Recommendations: The report recommends that U.S. policymakers take the following steps to lessen nuclear threats and promote cooperation on disarmament: state clearly that it is a U.S. goal to prevent nuclear weapons from ever being used, by either a state or a nonstate actor, and that the sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons is providing deterrence for itself and its allies; reaffirm security assurances to allies; continue to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons and do so in a transparent manner, and take the international lead in reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in security policy; seek further reductions in nuclear forces, beginning with a bilateral strategic arms control agreement with Russia; seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), taking as many steps as possible toward this end before the Nonproliferation Treaty Review (NPT) Conference in May 2010; call for a moratorium on the production of fissile material for weapons purposes; strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency's vital role of containing proliferation, including seeking universal adoption of the Additional Protocol and providing adequate and sustainable funding to the Agency; work cooperatively to ensure that every state with nuclear weapons or weapons-usable materials -- even those that remain outside the Nonproliferation Treaty like India and Pakistan -- implements best nuclear security practices.

Seller Inventory # 73664

Bibliographic Details

• Title: U. S. Nuclear Weapons Policy; Independent Task Force Report No. 62
• Publisher: Council on Foreign Relations, New York
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0876094205
• ISBN 13: 9780876094204
• Binding: Trade paperback
• Edition: Presumed First Edition, First printing.
• Condition: Very good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Deterrence
  • Iran
  • Nonproliferation
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Arms Control

About this title

Synopsis

In recent years, the dangers associated with nuclear weapons and the complexities of addressing these dangers have steadily grown. Relations with a nuclear-armed Russia could become adversarial. China's level of strategic development of nuclear technology remains unclear. Nuclear technologies are illicitly transferred through black markets. Equally important, new threats continue to grow from emerging nuclear states, such as Iran and North Korea, and from terrorist groups who may gain access to nuclear weapons. In this new and dangerous world, the United States must address and reassess its nuclear weapons policy.

Under the leadership of former secretary of defense William J. Perry and former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, an independent task force takes a fresh look at current U.S. nuclear doctrine and policy and determines the underlying purpose of America's nuclear weapons. Their report outlines a strategy for achieving the fundamental objectives of U.S. nuclear weapons through the skillful management of important political relationships and relevant amendments to policies on nonproliferation, arms control, nuclear terrorism prevention, securing nuclear weapons and weapons-usable materials, and ensuring crisis stability.

About the Author

William J. Perry is the Michael and Barbara Berberian professor at Stanford University. He served as secretary of defense to President Bill Clinton. Brent Scowcroft is the resident trustee of the Forum for International Policy. He served as national security adviser to presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Charles D. Ferguson is the Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations.