LOS ANGELES — Throughout the Cold War, nuclear deterrence was at the heart of U.S. nuclear policy. But deterrence has some important limitations that make it highly unreliable, particularly in a time of terrorism.
The most critical shortcoming of nuclear deterrence is that the threat of even overwhelming retaliation is not credible against extremist groups that cannot be located. Further, even a credible threat of nuclear retaliation would not be effective against an enemy that is suicidal.
Simply put, an enemy that is not locatable or that is suicidal cannot be deterred, no matter how large a country's nuclear arsenal or how clear its threats of retaliation.