Military Review English Edition November-December 2013 | Page 103
BOOK REVIEWS
ing each other directly in a war that could have
turned nuclear, there are a number of current scenarios that could lead to the use of one or multiple
nuclear bombs for the first time since 1945. Written
by the recently deceased Therese Delpech, Nuclear
Deterrence in the 21st Century: Lessons from the
Cold War for a New Era of Strategic Piracy, is a
well-written and relevant book about the emergence
of nuclear weapons in fragile or unstable countries
or the potential possession of nuclear weapons by
nonstate actors that provide unique security challenges.
With the backdrop of the ongoing crisis involving
Iran and its quest to develop nuclear power capability and the West’s determination to prevent them
from developing the capability of weaponizing
it, Delpech addresses one of the world’s greatest
security concerns. Although the likelihood of a massive nuclear war has decreased in the last 20 years,
Delpech argues that the likelihood of a nuclear
attack has increased. Possibilities include nuclear
terrorism from a terrorist group not concerned with
a retaliatory attack, radical Islamists challenging the
Pakistani government and gaining control of their
nuclear arsenal, a radical nonstate actor instigating
a war between Pakistan and India, a North Korean
attack, Israeli use in response to an existential threat
(e.g., Iran), or even an increasingly assertive China.
A common theme in the book is that deterrence
remains a relevant and necessary strategy as the
West faces these significant security concerns in
2013 and beyond. Delpech organizes her book is a
way for the reader to follow her logic, starting with
the current need to counter the spread of nuclear
weapons and then discusses the primary reasons
that nuclear deterrence succeeded in the Cold War
and how many of those methods could be modified and applied to contingencies today. She does
this through a series of short descriptions of how
nuclear war was deterred in 21 different Cold War
crises (e.g., Berlin Blockade, Korean War, Cuban
Missile Crisis, Yom Kippur War, and others). She
also discusses the possibilities of a conventional war
escalating to the nuclear level, nuclear weapons in
the hands of nonstate actors, how miscalculation
and misperceptions could lead to nuclear war, and
nuclear blackmail.
Delpech addresses how small powers (Iran,
North Korea, Pakistan, and Syria) could impact the
MILITARY REVIEW ? November-December 2013
international security and financial arrangement,
especially in this age of globalization and economic
interconnectedness. Concluding with a section on
how China, a rising economic and military power,
and a declining but still well-armed Russia could
affect the overall balance of power regarding international security, she provides the reader a vision
of what could lie ahead.
I highly recommend Nuclear Deterrence in the
21st Century for anyone interested in the study of
international relations, strategic studies, or nuclear
deterrence. Extremely relevant considering today’s
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