Nuclear Decision Making Process: A Case Study of the United States

Abstract

Nuclear decision making has a major role in ensuring a credible deterrent. In the US to ensure the survivability of decision makers, nuclear forces, and communication centers, the national commands and nuclear forces communicate in four dimensions i.e. land, air, sea, and space. If any communication system is destroyed or jammed, the surviving command centers will continue to work and ensure positive/negative control. In the US system, the President has the sole authority to authorize the nuclear launch. This essay focuses on the US nuclear decision making process, and also discusses the nuclear decision making process in other nuclear armed states. In addition, it will analyse the personality traits of the US President Donald Trump in the context of nuclear decision making.