HONOLULU — I have attended a number of discussions in recent years about U.S. nuclear weapons strategy and policy. All invariably begin with a presentation by a U.S. official or expert who proclaims that the United States, in the past decade, has significantly reduced the role and importance of nuclear weapons in its national security strategy and will continue to do so. This is then followed by a foreign (normally Chinese) expert who states with equal conviction and assurance that U.S. national security strategy has placed increased importance on the role of nuclear weapons and that the Pentagon is determined to develop new and more lethal types of nuclear weapons.

While one should never underestimate the ability of critics to see what they want to see in any U.S. statement, one hopes that the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), released this month, will help to settle this debate. The NPR states unequivocally that the U.S. "will not develop new nuclear warheads" and "will not support new military missions or provide for new military capabilities."

The NPR lists five key objectives, the first of which is "preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism," based on the understanding that this is "today's most immediate and extreme danger" and the least susceptible to traditional deterrence. This raises the importance of countering nuclear proliferation.