{
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      "id": 351703,
      "date": "2008-01-23",
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      "title": "U.S. Nuclear Weapons: Changes in Policy and Force Structure",
      "summary": "The Bush Administration conducted a review of U.S. nuclear weapons force posture during its first year in office. The review sought to adjust U.S. nuclear posture to address changes in the international security environment at the start of the new century. Although it continued many long-standing policies and programs, it also introduced new elements into both U.S. policy and U.S. nuclear weapons programs. This report, which will be updated as needed, provides an overview of the U.S. nuclear posture to highlight areas of change and areas of continuity.\nDuring the Cold War, the United States sought to deter the Soviet Union and its allies from attacking the United States and its allies by convincing the Soviet Union that any level of conflict could escalate into a nuclear exchange and, in that exchange, the United States would plan to destroy the full range of valued targets in the Soviet Union. Other nations were included in U.S. nuclear war plans due to their alliances with the Soviet Union. After the Cold War, the United States maintained a substantial nuclear arsenal to deter potential threats from Russia. It would not forswear the first use of nuclear weapons in conflicts with other nations, such as those armed with chemical or biological weapons, and formed contingency plans for such conflicts. The Bush Administration has emphasized that the United States and Russia are no longer enemies and that the United States will no longer plan or size its nuclear force to deter a \u201cRussian threat.\u201d Instead, the United States will maintain a nuclear arsenal with the capabilities needed to counter capabilities of any potential adversary, focusing on \u201chow we will fight\u201d rather than \u201cwho we will fight.\u201d Furthermore, U.S. nuclear weapons will combine with missile defenses, conventional weapons, and a responsive infrastructure in seeking to assure U.S. allies, dissuade U.S. adversaries, deter conflict, and defeat adversaries if conflict should occur.\nDuring the Cold War the United States maintained a \u201ctriad\u201d of ICBMs, SLBMs, and heavy bombers in a strategic nuclear arsenal of more than 10,000 warheads. During the 1990s, the United States reduced the size of this arsenal to around 7,000 warheads , but maintained all three legs of the triad. The Bush Administration has announced that the United States will further reduce its arsenal to between 1,700 and 2,200 \u201coperationally deployed\u201d warheads, but that it will not eliminate many delivery vehicles while reducing its force and it will retain many nondeployed warheads in storage as a \u201cresponsive force\u201d that could be added to the deployed forces if conditions warranted. The Bush Administration has also announced that it will resize and modernize the infrastructure that supports U.S. nuclear weapons, so that the United States could respond to unexpected changes in the status of its arsenal or the international security environment.\nAnalysts and observers have identified several issues raised by the Administration\u2019s Nuclear Posture Review. These include the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. national security policy, how to make the U.S. nuclear deterrent \u201ccredible,\u201d the relationship between the U.S. nuclear posture and the goal of discouraging nuclear proliferation, plans for strategic nuclear weapons, and the future of non-strategic nuclear weapons.",
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      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": "RL31623_2007Jan12",
      "date": "2007-01-12",
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      "id": "RL31623 2006-08-10",
      "date": "2006-08-10",
      "retrieved": "2007-06-12T14:18:31",
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      "id": "RL31623 2006-01-27",
      "date": "2006-01-27",
      "retrieved": "2006-02-28T09:23:10",
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      "id": "RL31623 2005-01-13",
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      "id": "RL31623 2004-02-23",
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs3672/",
      "id": "RL31623 2002-10-28",
      "date": "2002-10-28",
      "retrieved": "2005-06-12T17:39:15",
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  "topics": [
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