9. SYRIA - Theater Nuclear Deterrence Gap Widens - PETER HUESSY 100626

Theater Nuclear Deterrence Gap WidensPeter Huessy highlights America's vulnerability in theater nuclear deterrence, where adversaries like Russia and Chinapossess thousands of accurate regional nuclear weapons compared to minimal U.S. stockpiles. While Cold War disarmament policies drastically reduced American theater armaments, modern deterrence requires deploying small cruise missiles on submarines to effectively counter conventional aggression. Although a bipartisan congressional commission unanimously recommended rebuilding these vital capabilities, severe procurement delays mean new deterrence systems will not be ready until 2030. (9)