Nuclear Deterrence Exam

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Created on May 04, 2023

Nuclear Deterrence

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1. Which of the following are given by Albert Wohlstetter as minimum requirements for a robust nuclear force?

A. A state must have secure command, control, communications and intelligence systems

B. A state must decentralize its population and production facilities to be able to survive an enemy first strike

C. A state’s bomb delivery vehicles must be able to carry enough fuel to hit their targets

D. A and B

E. A and C

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2. Which of the following was an example offered by members of the Scientists’ Movement of how best to think about nuclear weapons and the danger arising from them?

A. No one can win a nuclear war

B. Two bears in a cage

C. It is just another weapon

D. Whoever shoots first wins

E. None of the above

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3. Viner and Borden disagreed with the Scientist Movement’s view that nuclear weapons made deterrence impossible. Which of the following is a reason they disagreed with that view?

A. The newly formed United Nations Security Council would regulate any future conflict

B. States could disperse their nuclear forces or make them mobile to ensure that they would not be vulnerable to a first strike

C. States would only attack cities with nuclear weapons and never each other’s nuclear weapon’s sites

D. They believed no state would ever actually use nuclear weapons in a conflict

E. None of the above

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4. Which of the following is a reason Sir Michael Quinlan gave for why no first use pledges are unsound?

A. A nuclear weapon state would not allow its options in a crisis to be limited by a promise made during peacetime

B. The deterrent value of having nuclear weapons would be undermined by a no first use pledge

C. If the situation is truly dire, no nuclear weapons state would choose its own destruction over the use of a nuclear weapon

D. All of the above

E. None of the above

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5. Which of the following is NOT true about the finite deterrence school of thought?

A. Believers in finite deterrence only wanted to target other state’s strategic forces

B. Proponents of finite deterrence worried that larger arsenals with larger yields increased the chances of accidental or unauthorized use of a nuclear weapon

C. A finite deterrence arsenal consisted of enough nuclear weapons to destroy most of an adversary’s large cities

D. In the 1950s the French military promoted finite deterrence because, it argued, it could not rely on U.S. or UK nuclear forces for protection from the Soviet Union

E. None of the above

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6. Members of the Scientists’ Movement offered which of the following solutions as a way to prevent nuclear war?

A. The institution of some type of world government to control nuclear energy development

B. The sharing of nuclear technology so that every country could have a reliable nuclear deterrent

C. Building active defenses to shoot down enemy bombers or missiles carrying nuclear weapons

D. Outlawing nuclear energy

E. None of the above

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7. What are some challenges associated with maintaining command and control of nuclear weapons systems?

A. Making sure that your communication systems can survive an enemy attack so that the proper chain of command, i.e. the president, can order a retaliatory strike

B. Ensuring that nuclear weapons have enough safety features, such as locks or codes, to prevent unauthorized or accidental use

C. Ensuring that the nuclear weapons actually work when needed

D. Protect U.S. satellite systems needed for communication and positioning from space-born threats such as anti-satellite weapons

E. All of the above

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8. Why does Andrew Krepinevich argue that deterrence is becoming increasingly challenging?

A. Multipolar competitions between the U.S., Russia, and China

B. The increasing lack of national security experts with personal Cold War experience

C. New military domains like space and cyberspace

D. A and C

E. All of the above

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9. According to Krepinevich, why does the emergence of a multi-polar world made deterrence more difficult?

A. There are too many cultural differences to make deterrence feasible

B. Maintaining a "balance of terror" between three or more countries is less feasible, as no country can likely maintain parity with the combined forces of the others

C. A multi-polar world will inherently lead to more countries acquiring nuclear weapons

D. It is impossible for more than two countries to agree on arms control initiatives

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