A new Trump administration plan makes nuclear war likelier
The Trump administration’s wizards of Armageddon  have locked down  their  vision of the nuclear future.  It  is  by and large  a rehash of old thinking from previous administrations  but  its  one key departure is a doozy: It declares a newfound readiness to use U.S. nuclear weapons first and early in a confrontation with Russia and possibly others.
[No one can stop President Trump from using nuclear weapons. That’s by design.]
Russia developed this doctrine over the past five years partially to exploit growing infrastructure vulnerabilities stemming from growing Western dependencies on these networks  and partially to reduce Russia’s own strategic reliance on first use of nuclear arms. By focusing on cyberwar and conventional forces  Russia seeks to depend less on its 20-year-old doctrine of “escalate to de-escalate ” which calls for the early first use of small-yield Russian tactical nuclear weapons to counter Western conventional supremacy. (This Russian option is also cited by the Trump review as a reason for acquiring and using countervailing low-yield U.S. nuclear weapons.)
The West’s Achilles’ heel of infrastructure vulnerability may tempt other adversaries besides Russia to take aim at this weakness in wartime. Indeed  the Trump administration’s document leaves the door ajar for possible U.S. nuclear first strikes against non-nuclear countries if they wreck our critical civilian infrastructure.
The burden of nuclear first use should remain on Russia and not be allowed to shift onto NATO. No American president wants to feel pressure to authorize the early first use of nuclear weapons. The correct approach is for the West to exploit its own cyber and conventional prowess to counter Russia on its own terms  exploiting Western superiority in these areas and leaving the burden of nuclear first use on Russia’s shoulders. We need tighter  not looser rules for using nukes first in a confrontation with Russia.  President Trump  should expunge this major new creative  but misguided  part of  his  nuclear review — and fire  its  authors.
How  President Trump  could tweet  his  way into nuclear war with North Korea
If  Trump  wants to use nuclear weapons  whether it’s ‘legal’ won’t matter
[TGT]have locked down  [TGT]  vision of the nuclear future.  It  is  by and large  a rehash of old thinking from previous administrations  but  its  one key departure is a doozy: It declares a newfound readiness to use U.S. nuclear weapons first and early in a confrontation with Russia and possibly others.
[No one can stop [TGT] from using nuclear weapons. That’s by design.]
Russia developed this doctrine over the past five years partially to exploit growing infrastructure vulnerabilities stemming from growing Western dependencies on these networks  and partially to reduce Russia’s own strategic reliance on first use of nuclear arms. By focusing on cyberwar and conventional forces  Russia seeks to depend less on its 20-year-old doctrine of “escalate to de-escalate ” which calls for the early first use of small-yield Russian tactical nuclear weapons to counter Western conventional supremacy. (This Russian option is also cited by the [TGT] review as a reason for acquiring and using countervailing low-yield U.S. nuclear weapons.)
The West’s Achilles’ heel of infrastructure vulnerability may tempt other adversaries besides Russia to take aim at this weakness in wartime. Indeed  the [TGT] administration’s document leaves the door ajar for possible U.S. nuclear first strikes against non-nuclear countries if they wreck our critical civilian infrastructure.
The burden of nuclear first use should remain on Russia and not be allowed to shift onto NATO. No American president wants to feel pressure to authorize the early first use of nuclear weapons. The correct approach is for the West to exploit its own cyber and conventional prowess to counter Russia on its own terms  exploiting Western superiority in these areas and leaving the burden of nuclear first use on Russia’s shoulders. We need tighter  not looser rules for using nukes first in a confrontation with Russia.  [TGT]should expunge this major new creative  but misguided  part of  [TGT]  nuclear review — and fire  [TGT]  authors.
How  [TGT]could tweet  [TGT]  way into nuclear war with North Korea
If  [TGT]wants to use nuclear weapons  whether it’s ‘legal’ won’t matter