Word: deterred
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...meaningless drill in arithmetic. For a country like the U.S., dedicated to the proposition that it will not strike the first blow, the problem is to build a retaliatory force capable of surviving any sneak attack. U.S. strategy requires that the very existence of that force deter aggression. If there is no deterrent gap, a mere missile gap is insignificant...
...Eisenhower put it, "a great emptiness." This apocalyptic vision of nuclear war, shared by both laymen and most defense experts, underlies a basic assumption of current U.S. defense policies: the threat of retaliatory nuclear attack by the U.S. is so frightening to Russian decision makers that it will automatically deter them from aggression...
Kahn is only halfway optimistic about even the shorter-term prospects. He is convinced that with clear, realistic thinking about national defense and substantial increases in defense spending, the U.S. can deter nuclear war in the 19605, or survive and recuperate if deterrence fails. But he is far from convinced that the required expenditures of thought and money will be forthcoming. "The capacity of Western governments and peoples to indulge in wishful thinking about military problems," he says, "is almost unlimited...
Kahn doubts whether, amid "all the stresses and strains of the cold war, all the sudden and unexpected changes, the possible accidents and miscalculations," the threat of U.S. nuclear retaliation can be relied upon in the 19603 to deter a Soviet attack on the U.S., much less deter an indirect provocation, such as seizure of West Berlin. The retaliation threat deters only to the extent that the Russians find it convincing...
...Russia achieves an unmistakable capability of launching a heavy nuclear assault on the U.S., perhaps in 1961, U.S. decision makers will have to face up to a powerful new factor: the threat of nuclear attack may not be enough to deter Communist incursions, since the Russians can counterthreaten nuclear retaliation upon the U.S. "Under current programs," warns Kahn, "the U.S. may in a few years find itself unwilling to accept a Soviet retaliatory blow, no matter what the provocation." Some U.S. officials are already aware of the looming limitations on U.S. deterrent power. Kahn quotes from Secretary of State Christian...