Is Reasonable Discussion Possible About Nuclear Weapons?

People don’t like to talk about nuclear weapons, which is reasonable, because most people believe nothing can be done about the problem. But I’m a realist and recently realized that nuclear weapons policy is a) based on assumptions, and b) some of those assumptions are likely wrong. Because the question of whether to keep nuclear weapons is a question of utility and danger, it’s possible to have a frank, pragmatic discussion. I argue that the reputation of nuclear weapons got overblown, for various reasons, and that their utility, based on history, is open to doubt. And that nuclear deterrence, although it has worked for quite some time, cannot work forever.

Ward Hayes Wilson is a Senior Fellow and director of the Rethinking Nuclear Weapons project at the British American Security Information Council (BASIC), a think tank focusing on nuclear disarmament based in London and Washington, D.C.