Reducing Nuclear Salience: How to Reassure Northeast Asian Allies

Sukin and Dalton recap the rationale for proposals to increase the prominence of nuclear weapons in the US' Northeast Asian alliances. They illustrate how nuclear-centered strategies embraced by the President Trump administration did not allay ROK and Japanese concerns about nuclear credibility. In addition, they show that such strategies may actually backfire by exacerbating concerns that possible rash US actions could cause or worsen crises or by contributing to a slippery slope whereby allies over-value nuclear deterrence and then desire their own nuclear weapons. They conclude by considering options for managing these problems through alliance cohesion initiatives.