Options for US Nuclear Disarmament

The author first characterizes the current global nuclear environment, encapsulating extant nuclear security obligations held by the United States, and related arms control treaties. The main body of the thesis then comprises an exposition of the contemporary threat environment, followed by an analysis of the benefits, costs, and risks of three distinct options for the United States: maintenance of the US nuclear status quo, total US denuclearization, and US denuclearization to the level of minimum deterrence. The author finds that none of the nuclear capable states pose a significant current or potential threat to the United States. Rather, the only state actor threats relate to indirect issues regarding intervention in regional conflicts. Instead, the direct threats to the United States arise from proliferation, the risks of nuclear accident and unauthorized or inadvertent use, and the threat of nuclear terrorism.