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Statement of the Honorable Douglas J. Feith
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy
Senate Armed Services Hearing on the Nuclear Posture Review
February 14, 2002
Introduction
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 required the
Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, to conduct a
comprehensive review of U.S. nuclear forces and to develop a long-range plan for the
sustainment and modernization of United States strategic nuclear forces. The Nuclear
Posture Review (NPR) constitutes the Department of Defense response to this
requirement.
We submitted the NPR to Congress on January 8, 2002. It is the first
comprehensive review of nuclear forces since 1994, when the first Nuclear Posture
Review was completed. The primary purpose of the 1994 review was to determine the
strategic nuclear force structure to be deployed under the second Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty (START II).
The current review of the U.S. nuclear posture differs from the 1994 review. The
1994 review assumed that the central strategic U.S. concern was managing a potentially
hostile relationship between the two largest nuclear powers. The current review
recognizes that the United States and Russia have a new relationship, and that the
proliferation of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles has created new challenges for
deterrence. It defines the capabilities required of the nuclear forces in the new strategic
environment, and in relation to other U.S. defense capabilities. Most especially, it
recognizes that Russia, unlike the Soviet Union, is not an enemy. There is ground for
mutual cooperation, and the United States is seeking to move beyond the outdated Cold
War nuclear confrontation to develop a new strategic framework with Russia.
A New Era
The basic features of the Cold War shaped our approach to security, including the
role and size of our nuclear forces and deterrence policies. Our current nuclear triad of
ICBMs, bombers, and ballistic missile submarines, and the ways we have pursued
deterrence and arms control negotiations, reflect the conditions of Cold War. The new
features of the international system, particularly the types of threats we face, are
dramatically different. Consequently, President Bush charged the Department of Defense
with transforming our approach to defense, including nuclear weapons and missile
defenses, to meet the new challenges of the post-Cold War era.
