Bush School professor Matthew Fuhrmann, Ph.D., writing in War on the Rocks, explains that getting close is a popular strategy, which he calls latent nuclear deterrence
Most countries that could develop nuclear weapons are not following Charles de Gaulle’s example.
France’s famous former president thought his country needed nuclear weapons to prevent the use of such weapons against it. He did not want to rely on the United States for security. Many world leaders today wonder whether they should rely on Washington. Yet they do they not think they should go quite as far as de Gaulle. They believe that the capacity to develop nuclear weapons in a short period of time will deter their adversaries, according to Matthew Fuhrmann, Ph.D., a political science professor with The Bush School of Government and Public Service.
Fuhrmann recently penned an article, based on his recent book “Influence Without Arms: The New Logic of Nuclear Deterrence,” about what he has termed “latent nuclear deterrence.” He argues in the article that, “Your adversaries and closest allies might not need nuclear weapons to achieve deterrence – they just need you to believe they could build them at any moment.” The article was posted in War on the Rocks, a publication that focuses on national-security issues.
