of political institutions, processes, and public policies, (2) to enrich political It is in our opinion safe to say that the employment of nuclear weapons from the end of the Cold War is again a priority in the security agenda but it is although necessary to underline the lack of exclusivity of such a strategy:  the traditional approach of deterrence applied to nuclear strategy is still significant in the security dilemmas landscape, as shown by its prominence in the Nuclear Posture Review Report of the US released in 2010. To access this article, please, Access everything in the JPASS collection, Download up to 10 article PDFs to save and keep, Download up to 120 article PDFs to save and keep. The Political Science Quarterly is the oldest and most widely in 1880 with a threefold mission: (1) to contribute to the scholarly examination Keywords: Cold War, deterrence theory and evolution, nuclear deterrence, nuclear history, nuclear terrorists, nuclear weapons, regional nuclear rivals Deterrence is ubiquitous in the natural world, where potential preys employ a variety of defences against would-be predators. To do so, we will conduct analysis, among the classical actors employing it, of the significance over time of deterrence, considered as a passive tool to defend from a first strike attack and the changes, if any, that this concept has faced. With the end of the Cold War, the question has shifted on the role of nuclear weapons, particularly of nuclear deterrence, in a new security scenario, thus dividing the world between those believing in the persistence of factors legitimising nuclear arsenals and those enhancing the feasibility of a world freed from nuclear weapons. Show More. It appears to be true that, despite the enormous changes in the threat of nuclear attacks since the Cold War, the threat of such aggression is still the most effective - if not the only - mean to prevent nuclear attacks themselves: that is indeed the idea of a second-strike capability. scholarly and useful book reviews. Other articles where Nuclear deterrence is discussed: 20th-century international relations: The race for nuclear arms: Nuclear deterrence, however, was subject to at least three major problems. The Academy of Political Science is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded Within the international arena, in light of the international provisions fostering the lack of legitimacy of a nuclear first-strike attack, that State, ignoring the nuclear taboo, would automatically become a pariah. It is indeed for what concerns countering terrorism that nuclear deterrence has witnessed an important evolution which does not seem to stop in any recent times: even in future times, as pre-emptive war lack of popularity among citizens, that deterrence strategy seems to be the most effective to respond to such a threat. and scholars of all political persuasions have enrolled as members, participated To browse and search through issues published in the last five years, please visit http://www.psqonline.org.