June 30, 2019
INF Treaty Defenders Raise the Risk of Nuclear War
A dangerous plan to ban research and development of intermediate-range conventional weapons.
President Trump last year announced the U.S. would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. That made sense because Russia was violating the pact and China, which was not a signatory, had exploited it to undermine the U.S. conventional military edge in Asia.
Some in Congress who objected to Mr. Trump’s decision are trying to nullify it by defunding conventional weapons covered by the soon-to-be defunct treaty. The House voted largely on party lines last month to zero out research and development for conventional intermediate-range missiles. If they prevail, it will heighten the risk of nuclear war.
The best way to reduce the chance of nuclear confrontation with great-power competitors is by having conventional forces able to repel any invasion of U.S. allies, and conventional ground-based missile systems would help. Nor would they undermine any efforts to manage nuclear risks. The original INF pact was essentially about nuclear weapons; conventional missiles were included largely for verification reasons. The R&D funding the House zeroed out wasn’t even prohibited under the treaty.
Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal.
More from CNAS
-
Our Defense Industrial Base—We Get What We Pay For
Commentary
Introduction Over the last few years, there have been several attempts to address perceived shortcomings in the industrial base that supports the Department of Defense (DoD). ...
By Frank Kendall
-
Trump’s Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far
Commentary
This article was originally published in Bloomberg. When US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early in the new year, the Trump a...
By Becca Wasser
-
CNAS Insights | America Isn’t Ready for a Drone War
Commentary
This week, U.S. personnel near El Paso, Texas, tested a high-energy laser as part of their mission to shoot down cartel drones along the southern border. The resulting confusi...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
-
Commentary
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Trump’s NATO DilemmaThis article was originally published in Foreign Affairs. Last November, Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, startled a gathering of European officials at the Berl...
By Sara Moller
