President Joe Biden made some key changes in US nuclear policy earlier this year, which would empower American forces to deal with a possible coordinated nuclear confrontation initiated by Russia, China, and North Korea against the United States.
The president made these changes in “Nuclear Employment Guidance,” a document that is kept super-secret due to the nature of the information it contains. The document has no electronic copy, and its hard copy is only circulated among top national security stakeholders.
White the White House never released any information about the change in policy, two national security officials have now been permitted to speak about it publicly in a highly constrained manner.
According to the former Pentagon strategist Vipin Narang, the changes were made to deal with China’s increasing nuclear capabilities. National Security Council’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation, Pranay Vaddi, also noted that the recently made changes are aimed at tackling Russia, North Korea, and China’s nuclear ambitions that seem to be rising.
While China currently maintains just over 500 nuclear warheads, far behind Russia and the US, both of which have around 5,000 weapons, there is a growing consensus in the Pentagon that Beijing’s increasing nuclear capabilities pose a threat to the US. Earlier this year, US Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton testified in front of Congress that Beijing is advancing its nuclear capabilities at a “breathtaking” pace.
These key nuclear policy changes came at a time when the trio of Russia, China, and North Korea are getting increasingly reliant on showing their military assertiveness against their respective neighboring countries.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin has downplayed the need to use a nuclear weapon against Ukraine, his top aides have previously speculated that the country will not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction to defeat Ukraine.
Similarly, China is slowly and steadily expanding its nuclear capabilities and has managed to add nearly 90 nuclear warheads to its arsenals in the last year. The country reportedly plans to take its nuclear arsenals up to 1500 by 2030, which is likely to kick off a dangerous arms race in the region, as India, having 172 nuclear weapons, is likely to increase its own arsenals to combat the Chinese threat. Should India decide to catch up with China, Pakistan is expected to follow suit, as the country’s foreign and nuclear policy largely revolves around India.
North Korea is already intensifying its nuclear ambitions, which is evident by the recent threats of its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, who threatened to launch nuclear weapons on a country he deems dangerous.
