Publication

This paper discusses US nuclear doctrine. The author describes how in November 1997 President Clinton issued a highly classified Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) with revised guidelines for the US military on potential future uses of the US nuclear arsenal. The paper states that the revised PDD allows for the use of nuclear weapons against "rogue" states and those suspected of having access to weapons of mass destruction. The author explains that with little informed opposition and public debate, the result of the PDD is a nuclear doctrine that borrows heavily from Cold War nuclear thinking.