What does Extended Deterrence Mean in a Multipolar World?
The idea of deterrence is that if a country is (or looks) strong enough, other countries won’t attack it. That’s easy enough to understand, and it makes a certain amount of sense. Animals use deterrence, by puffing up and standing their hair on end to make themselves look bigger, and, if that fails, by engaging in behaviors to convince the other how undefeatable they are. A certain amount of readiness, posturing and whatever works can avoid an encounter that could cause real damage. After the world contained enough nuclear weapons to destroy it, deterrence became more attractive, essential even. The prospect of destroying the earth was the ultimate deterrent. For theorists of nuclear war, deterrence was the sine qua non. Under what circumstances could it break down? What kind of war might that provoke? What about the rest of the world? The two big nuclear powers shielded their allies from each other in what came to be called “extended deterrence,” the big player might bring nukes in if
