Limited first strike

Limited first strike

The limited first strike policy is a military doctrine referring to the use of nuclear weapons in modern military strategy. In essence, this policy states that, in the event of an attack by another country by conventional (that is to say, non-nuclear) means, the defending country's response would be to retaliate using some amount of nuclear force. "First strike" refers to the first use of nuclear weapons in a war as an act of retaliation, not to a pre-emptive or aggressive attacks using nuclear force.

For example, suppose that the small country A and the larger country B have rocky relations. Country A, being smaller, does not have the resources needed to build a large conventional army, so it adopts the "limited first strike policy". Thus, if country B attacks country A with its conventional army, country A will counter-attack with its nuclear weapons.

The idea is that the "limited first strike policy" serves as a deterrent to possible aggressors for fear of nuclear war.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • First strike — In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country s ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country… …   Wikipedia

  • first-strike — adjective see first strike * * * firstˈ strike adjective • • • Main Entry: ↑first * * * first strike «FURST STRYK», adjective, noun. –adj. 1. (of a nuclear weapon or force) designed or intended for use only in an initial attack: »Weapons openly… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Strike series — Strike is the common name of a series of video games created by Mike Posehn, John Patrick Manley and Tony Barnes released between 1991 and 1997 by Electronic Arts for a number of video game systems. The games are multi directional shooters shown… …   Wikipedia

  • First Robotech War — In the fictional world of Robotech, the First Robotech War (February 2009 April 2011) was a conflict between the earth based Robotech Defense Force and the alien Zentraedi. It is known as Space War I in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross , the… …   Wikipedia

  • Strike — may refer to:Refusal to work or perform* Strike action, also known as a Walkout, a work stoppage by a corporation or public institution * General strike, a strike action by a critical mass of the labor force in a city, region or country *Church… …   Wikipedia

  • No first use — (NFU) refers to a pledge or a policy by a nuclear power not to use nuclear weapons as a means of warfare unless first attacked by an adversary using nuclear weapons. The concept can also be applied to chemical or biological warfare. As of October …   Wikipedia

  • First Chechen War — Russian helicopter brought down by Chechen fighters near the capital Grozny in 1994 …   Wikipedia

  • Strike Back (TV series) — Chris Ryan s Strike Back Blu ray cover for the series. Genre Action Drama Military …   Wikipedia

  • Strike Gundam — This article is about a series of fictional mobile weapons from the Cosmic Era timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries.The GAT X105 Strike Gundam is initially designed by Junichi Akutsu and cleaned up by Kunio Okawara for the series Mobile Suit… …   Wikipedia

  • First-person shooter — This article is about the video game genre. For other uses, see First person shooter (disambiguation). A screenshot …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”