Word: nuclearization
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...more than an academic exercise. Early in the campaign, Dukakis argued that Gorbachev had agreed to the treaty eliminating intermediate-range nuclear - weapons in Europe because of domestic economic pressures, not because of NATO's deployment of its own missiles. That woolly assertion contributed to the impression that he was a naif on foreign policy. But as he quizzed the professors, Dukakis expressed a keener appreciation of the nuances. Out of the session came the foundation for a studiously centrist foreign policy address he gave last month. Says Harvard's Nye: "He has not changed his views or first principles...
...emphasis is different these days. He seems intent on preventing George Bush from portraying him as the purveyor of a McGooey isolationism -- as the Vice President eagerly hopes to do. So instead of stressing, as he did in Iowa, his belief that the U.S. already has far more nuclear weapons than it needs, the new Dukakis emphasizes his support for the doctrine of deterrence. He even praises Ronald Reagan for his emphasis on human rights while in Moscow...
...Dukakis opposes most new nuclear weapons systems and argues that the resources should instead be directed to conventional arms...
Despite pressure from Jesse Jackson's supporters, Dukakis refuses to renounce the current NATO doctrine that threatens the first use of nuclear weapons if a Soviet invasion overwhelms Western Europe. Instead, Dukakis speaks of the need to build up NATO's capacity for "winning" a nonnuclear war. Such talk understandably unnerves European allies, who know the horrors of wars being waged on their territory. But aside from the unartful language, Dukakis' goal makes sense: enhancing NATO's strength could deter a conventional war or, if that failed, raise the threshold at which nuclear weapons might be used...
...politically calculated -- than visceral. He does not seem as passionate about it as, say, his denunciations of the contras. One reason his support for a conventional buildup seems to lack conviction is that it runs smack into his penchant for holding down costs. The dirty little secret about nuclear weapons is that they are a cheap way to counter Soviet advantages in geography and numerical strength...