Forging a Consensus for a Sustainable U. S. Nuclear Posture

Clark A. Murdock; Stephanie Spies; John Warden

doi:10.5771/9781442224803

Summary

This report was produced by the CSIS Nuclear Consensus Working Group (NCWG) to assist the Obama administration in forging, during its second term, an enduring consensus about the U.S. nuclear posture. The report includes (1) seven individual statements from nuclear thinkers and practitioners across the “broad middle” of the spectrum of opinion on the role and value of U.S. nuclear weapons, the U.S. nuclear posture needed for this defined role, and a political strategy for sustaining the recommended posture; (2) a consensus statement signed by eight members of the NCWG; (3) A description of the process used by the NCWG to forge the signed statement, which includes the lessons learned from the facilitation process; and (4) A case study covering 2008-2012, which provides both a chronology of past attempts to broker consensus about the U.S. nuclear posture and the working group’s assessment of the lessons learned.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2013
Copyright Year: 2013
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4422-2479-7
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4422-2480-3
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 74
Product Type: Monograph

1. Contents No access
2. Executive Summary No access
3. An Agreement in Support of a Sustainable U.S. Nuclear Posture No access
Forging a Consensus for a Sustainable U.S. Nuclear Posture No access Pages 1 - 11
Appendix A: Members of the Nuclear Consensus Working Group No access Pages 12 - 12
Appendix B: Schedule and Meetings of the Nuclear Consensus Working Group No access Pages 13 - 13
Appendix C: Core Group Individual Statements No access Pages 14 - 50
Appendix D: The Future Security Environment: 2020 and Beyond No access Pages 51 - 58
Appendix E: An Elusive Consensus: U.S. Nuclear Policy during the First Obama Term No access Pages 59 - 71
About the Authors No access Pages 72 - 74