The State of Deterrence: The Role of Tactical and Strategic Nuclear Weapons

Since the mid-twentieth century, nuclear weapons have played a major role in the policies of the states who wield them. Until the beginning of the twenty-first century, many scholars believed that nuclear weapons were a staple for deterrence due to their destructive power, namely Strategic Nuclear Weapons and especially regarding relations with states who also held nuclear weapons. This was due to a fear of mutual assured destruction. This project analyses the effect nuclear weapons (namely Strategic Nuclear Weapons and Tactical Nuclear Weapons) have on deterrence. I use Perfect Deterrence Theory as well as a number of statistical models to determine if nuclear weapons are an effective deterrent and if there is a difference in deterrence for the type of nuclear weapon a state controls. For this project, my primary research question is: how do Tactical Nuclear Weapons affect deterrence when compared to Strategic Nuclear Weapons