May 16, 2016
New Book — The Lure and Pitfalls of MIRVs: From the First to the Second Nuclear Age
Arming missiles with multiple nuclear warheads (“multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles,” or MIRVs) during the Cold War increased superpower arsenals by thousands of warheads and drastically undermined efforts at effective strategic arms control. Today, with China’s newly MIRV’ed DF-5B missile and similar plans by India and Pakistan, it is important to estimate if MIRVed missiles will have a similarly destabilizing effect in South Asia.
A new book released today by the nonpartisan Stimson Center, The Lure and Pitfalls of MIRVs: From the First to the Second Nuclear Age, explores this important question. CNS East Asia Nonproliferation Program Director Jeffrey G. Lewis authored the chapter on China, in which he speculates that MIRVs will not drastically impact China’s strategic posture. “Chinese leaders,” writes Lewis, “have sought to match the technical achievements of other nuclear powers, without necessarily replicating the number of weapons or adopting foreign doctrines.”
This book is available in its entirety from the Stimson Center website.
