WHAT IS DETERRENCE IN THE POST-COLD WAR WORLD?
“Deterrence” as a strategic concept evolved during the Cold War. During that period, deterrence strategy was aimed mainly at preventing aggression against the United States and its close allies by the hostile Communist power centers the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies, Communist China, and North Korea; in particular, the strategy was devised to prevent aggression involving nuclear attack by the USSR or China. Since the Cold War the risk of war among the major powers has subsided to the lowest point in modern history. The changing nature of the threats to U.S. and allied security interests have stimulated a considerable broadening of the deterrence concept. Current deterrence objectives include the following: • To deter attack on the United States and its allies by external forces ranging from the armed forces of hostile nations, including “rogue” nations and diverse regional powers, to national or multinational terrorist groups acting with such nations’ active
