Episode 6: Contemplating the Unthinkable: Making Nuclear Deterrence Credible

The Debrief

U.S. national security ultimately rests on its nuclear capabilities to deter existential challenges to its existence, alongside the commitment to use such weapons if other forms of deterrence have failed. Join Professor Dana Struckman and Dr. Terence Roehrig to look at the challenges of nuclear deterrence and how this has evolved from the superpower rivalry of the Cold War to more unsettled conditions of great power competition in the 21st century.

About the Speakers:

Dana Struckman joined the U.S. Naval War College (NWC) faculty upon his NWC graduation in June of 2006 and served as a military professor for four years. In 2010, he joined the faculty as a full-time Professor of Practice and currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the National Security Affairs Department.

Dr. Terence Roehrig, professor of national security affairs, has been a research fellow at the Kennedy School at Harvard University in the International Security Program and the Project on Managing the Atom. He is a non-resident expert at the Center for Korean Legal Studies at Columbia University. He has published numerous books, articles and book chapters on Korean and East Asian security issues, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, the U.S.-Republic of Korea alliance, Korean maritime issues, human rights and transitional justice. He has given presentations to U.S. Forces Korea, the U.S. Embassy Seoul and the ROK JCS J-5. He has been a past president of the Association of Korean Political Studies.

The views presented by the faculty or other guest speakers do not reflect official positions of the Naval War College, DON or DOD.