US President Joe Biden in March of this year signed a secret nuclear strategic plan for the country, which changes the policy of deterrence and prepares the army for nuclear confrontations with Russia, China and North Korea. This decision was influenced by the cooperation of these countries.
This is reported by The New York Times (NYT).
Joe Biden advocated a policy of nuclear deterrence during his presidential term, but he signed the document because China is increasing the number of such weapons.
The Peopleʼs Republic of China competes with the United States and Russia for the number of nuclear weapons — according to Pentagon estimates, China will have 1 500 such weapons by 2035. This is the fastest pace of arms build-up in the world, ahead of US projections.
The document "Guidelines for the Use of Nuclear Weapons" signed by Biden is classified and until recently was not discussed at all by high-ranking officials. However, in recent speeches, several US politicians have spoken about updating the document.
"The president recently issued updated guidance on the use of nuclear weapons to account for multiple adversaries armed with nuclear weapons," the MIT nuclear strategist who served at the Pentagon Vipin Narang said earlier this month.
He added that the new strategy is designed to contain Russia, North Korea and China at the same time. Previously, the US did not see such a need and threats — Washington did not believe that the adversaries could unite to overtake the American nuclear potential.
The cooperation of the Peopleʼs Republic of China and the Russian Federation, as well as the supply of weapons for the war against Ukraine from Iran and North Korea to Russia, changed the situation. The NYT writes that all military personnel sworn in after the inauguration of a new US president will face a "more volatile nuclear landscape" than three years ago.
China has stopped talking to Washington about improving nuclear safety and security — refusing, for example, to warn each other of future missile tests or to keep in touch to ensure incidents or accidents donʼt escalate into nuclear collisions. China argued for such a decision by the fact that the United States sold weapons to Taiwan long before talks about nuclear security began.
This policy of the PRC has affected North Korea: the country is also expanding its nuclear arsenal and bringing its number closer to that of Pakistan and Israel. According to US officials, the country has more than 60 nuclear weapons and fuel for many more. This is enough to unite with Moscow and Beijing in the future.
According to Narang, the new challenge is "the real possibility of cooperation and even collusion between our adversaries armed with nuclear weapons."
Author: Iryna Perepechko