January 30, 2015

Nuclear Weapons in the Third Offset Strategy: Avoiding a Nuclear Blind Spot in the Pentagon’s New Initiative

By Elbridge Colby

Robert M. Gates Fellow Elbridge Colby argues that the Third Offset Strategy focus on how nuclear weapons will factor into the warfighting “regime” the new initiative envisions. Mr. Colby recommends the Pentagon "must studiously think through how the offset strategy can be shaped and implemented to deter, discourage and, if need be, control for and respond to adversary nuclear employment."

The report is part of the Center's Beyond Offset project, which examines the challenges of U.S. technology strategy and advance candidate solutions for the Pentagon and industry.

Authors

  • Elbridge Colby

    Director, Defense Program

    Elbridge Colby is the Director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security, where he leads CNAS’ work on defense issues. Previously, Colby served as the D...

  • Commentary
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    If You Want Peace, Prepare for Nuclear War

    In a little under three decades, nuclear weapons have gone from center stage to a sideshow in U.S. defense strategy. Since the 1990s, the United States has drastically reduced...

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    • Commentary
    • March 29, 2016
    Trump's nuclear views are terrifying: Column

    The contours of Donald Trump’s foreign policy are becoming disturbingly clear. Newspapers have labeled his thinking on international affairs "isolationist” and “unabashedly no...

    By Mira Rapp-Hooper

    • Reports
    • January 12, 2016
    Russia's Evolving Nuclear Doctrine and its Implications

    In this report, Robert M. Gates Senior Fellow Elbridge Colby provides a baseline of Russian thinking on how Moscow looks at these options....

    By Elbridge Colby

    • Congressional Testimony
    • November 3, 2015
    Elbridge Colby before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces

    Elbridge Colby testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces on adapting U.S. nuclear strategy and posture to a more contested and competitive wor...

    By Elbridge Colby

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