Korea and Extended Deterrence

Extended deterrence?  Who knows what that means?  Amongst those who do, who would have thought it was still around?

Well, Reporter Richard Halloran thinks so.  Writing in the Honolulu Advertiser he picks up on the nuance at a recent Presidential Press Conference and writes on it.

Last week, however, Obama and President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea issued a joint statement saying that "the continuing commitment of extended deterrence, including the U.S. nuclear umbrella," provides assurance that the U.S. would respond if Pyongyang ever puts into action the threats it has repeatedly hurled at South Korea.

As the opinion piece writer says, we have had a recent re-articulation of our Extended Deterrence policy.  The Air Force reissued its Air Force Doctrine Document, Nuclear Operations, on 7 May 2009.  The doctrine has been renumbered, to AFDD 2-12.

Extended Deterrence
During the Cold War the US provided for the security of its allies by threatening a nuclear response in the event of an attack on them by the Soviet Union.  This policy, based on the threat of retaliation, served as the foundation for what is now called extended deterrence.  Extended deterrence remains an important pillar of US policy; however, its application in the context of the 21st century is very different from the Cold War.  Today, extended deterrence is less about retaliation and more about posturing to convince an enemy that they are unlikely to achieve the political and military objectives behind any attack on the US or one of our allies.

Through alliances and treaties, our extended deterrence strategy provides a nuclear umbrella to friendly and allied nations.  Our nuclear umbrella assures allies of our commitment to their security and serves as a nonproliferation tool by obviating their need to develop and field their own nuclear arsenals.

In the case of the North Atlantic treaty Organization (NATO), the deployment of nuclear weapons in Europe is not a Service or regional command issue—it is an Alliance issue.  Moreover, actions concerning nuclear posture in NATO have an impact on the perceptions of our allies elsewhere.

Unfortunately, life continues to be interesting.

Regards  —  Cliff