Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine

The United States is in a new cold war with two nuclear-armed adversaries—Russia and China—that regularly threaten to cross the nuclear threshold to break the US-led international order. 

In her new book Duty to Deter: American Nuclear Deterrence and the Just War Doctrine, Hudson Senior Fellow Rebeccah L. Heinrichs makes the case that, in the current threat environment, strengthening the US nuclear deterrent complies with just war doctrine. Contrary to the arguments of many experts, failing to adapt the American nuclear deterrent would violate the doctrine’s principles, she argues.

Heinrichs will join Jeremy Hunt, a Hudson media fellow and the chairman of the Board of Directors of Veterans on Duty, to discuss the ethical implications of US nuclear policy and how policymakers can fulfill the moral imperative for a strong American nuclear deterrent.