DeMint: New START Codifies the ‘Balance of Terror’

Owen Graham / July 30, 2010

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the U.S. and Russia is a throwback to the Cold War and does not address the greatest threats the U.S. faces today, namely ballistic missile attacks by rogue nations, according to Sen. Jim DeMint (R–SC). Far from addressing emerging threats, the treaty would actually prevent the U.S. from defending against them and lock the U.S. into the old Cold War adversarial relationship with Russia of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)—or “balance of terror.”

By taking on the logic of advancing the old paradigm of MAD in the New START treaty, DeMint is tackling a complicated, often overlooked and crucial aspect of the debate. As depicted in the classic movie Dr. Strangelove, the U.S.–Soviet standoff during the Cold War hinged on the MAD-based relationship for each superpower to threaten the population of the other with nuclear annihilation. This paralyzing relationship privileged strategic offensive nuclear weapons in national security strategy and discouraged against developing and deploying robust missile defenses. This Orwellian view was based on the notion that missile defenses are “destabilizing.” (more…)