Imbalance in strategic arms
Name(s):
Unequal strategic arms capability
International strategic instability
Missile gap
Nature
In the military confrontation between superpowers, due to the ease with which information on the military capability of one power may be misrepresented by the other in an effort to obtain resources to develop its own capability. Any evidence of inequality of capability becomes a threat to international peace and security and may gravely disturb the balance of power.
Background
Measures of inequality of strategic nuclear arms capabilities are hindered by uncertainty of intelligence information, lack of mutual inspection, and technical problems of comparability on yield of weapons, range, number, targets, basing systems and survivability against counter-measures or a hostile nuclear attack.
Incidence
The INF treaty bans intermediate-range missiles from the countries of NATO and the former [Warsaw Pact], while the rest of the world can still deploy them. The most ambitious notion is a worldwide [Missile Non-Proliferation Treaty]. It is clearly anomalous that nuclear, chemical and biological weapons - which is to say, the most feared missile warheads - are all controlled by international treaties, whereas the likeliest delivery means, the missiles themselves, are not. The problem with all these schemes is that none appears to be negotiable.
Claim
There is no comprehensive theory of strategic stability. Attempts to develop concrete programmes for strategic stabilization have so far been limited to proposals to either prevent surprise attacks and accidental wars or reduce the advantage of a nuclear first strike.
Aggravates
Aggravated by
Strategy(ies)
Type
(D) Detailed problems