Ariel Cohen, formerly the Russia “expert” at the Heritage Foundation and now a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, published an op-ed in The Hill defending Elbridge Colby’s emphasis on tactical nuclear weapons to deter Russia and China as necessary in the face of the supposed threat emanating from Moscow and Beijing. Colby has recently argued for more “rational nuclear options” for the president in the domain of tactical nuclear weapons, and is pushing to change America’s nuclear strategy posture accordingly.
“According to NBC News, and broadly confirmed by Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, the Department of Defense is drafting a nuclear strategy that places far greater weight on shorter-range, lower-yield tactical weapons in a regional conflict with Russia or China,” he writes. “This is not, as Moscow’s and Beijing’s propagandists claim, a march toward nuclear war. It is an acknowledgment that America’s deterrent has a credibility gap, and that gap has been widening for years.”
