China reaffirmed this week its no first use policy for nuclear weapons at a meeting of the UN’s General Assembly First Committee.
Li Song, the Chinese ambassador for disarmament affairs, told the committee that China “has solemnly committed to no first use of nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones unconditionally.”
China and India are the only two nuclear-armed powers that maintain a no first use policy. The Biden administration’s nuclear policy allows first use, something that was hinted at in its National Security Strategy that was released last week.
The strategy reads: “A safe, secure, and effective nuclear force undergirds our defense priorities by deterring strategic attacks, assuring allies and partners, and allowing us to achieve our objectives if deterrence fails.”
Russia’s military doctrine allows the use of nuclear weapons if Russia faces an “existential threat.” Russian President Vladimir Putin recently reiterated that this policy applies to threats to Russia’s “territorial integrity.”
Li called on the US and Russia to work to dismantle their nuclear arsenals. “We also believe that the US and Russia, as the nuclear superpowers with the largest nuclear arsenals, should continue to fulfill their special and primary responsibilities towards nuclear disarmament,” he said.
But the US has an over $1 trillion plan to modernize its nuclear arsenal, which President Biden’s National Security Strategy emphasizes. “To ensure our nuclear deterrent remains responsive to the threats we face, we are modernizing the nuclear Triad, nuclear command, control, and communications, and our nuclear weapons infrastructure,” the strategy says.
“But the US has an over $1 trillion plan to modernize its nuclear arsenal,” –
strategy or just reflexive stupidity? Like making sure the opioids have a child-proof top in the kitchen cabinet (handy) — and of course we all know children regularly open such bottles with glee.
No first use nuclear weapon policy means absolutely nothing if you lose a conventional war and hegemonic forces invade your country to regime change and enslave you. Look at Germany now. They can’t mention who actually destroyed their own gas line–not even 77 years later. Good luck, China and India. You can celebrate your moral superiority for now.
There will be no invasion of the U.S.. It is too vast. Movies, like Red Dawn, are ridiculous. I do believe that movies of that type were intended to have the U.S. populace to accept, even expect, war with Russia. Propaganda.
You’re like a brother, V. Ok, trade you the word “invade” with “destroy” and let’s do a bit of math. How about if they destroy your country? Still no? They have the power to drone you and your country 24 hours a day, 7 days a week forever and ever. What’s stopping them from doing that? Their good manners or you being a nice slave? We already know it’s not good manners. So if you’re not a nice slave, what’s stopping them? Could it be your nuclear weapons?
The one trillion dollar upgrade was signed into action during the Obama administration.
If we’d reel in our tentacles, and reduce “our nuclear deterrent remains responsive to the threats we face”, we could greatly reduce our bloated Offense spending and not face those threats that are of our own making.
Both Washington and Moscow have identical policies: to be the first to use nukes if under existential threat, implying a scenario where Deterrence policy has critically failed. Preventing these scenarios is the challenge, one which they appear to be failing.
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