Coordinating the arm swing with the pivot: nuclear deterrence, stability and US strategy in the Asia-Pacific

United States foreign policy towards the Asia - Pacific region is set to be fundamentally altered by two d evelopments in Washington’s defence policy. The first, much publicised change is the announcement of a so - called pivot towards the region in terms of overall defence strategy. The second, largely going unnoticed but occurring at roughly the same time, is a move towards a far greater role for advanced conventional weaponry in the US defence posture and the subsequent effect on extended nuclear deterrence thinking and practice. This article analyses the interaction of these two trends and discusses a central tension between short - term and long - term challenges for the United States arising from this situation, and suggests that contrary to current developments, either a freeze in the deployment of a number of advanced conventional weapons programmes or a return to a strategy underpinned by traditional notions of nuclear deterrence may provide the most productive basis for future regional security and stability.