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The other arsenals were pretty small and the confrontations that I'm aware of were between the US and USSR. The Soviet response to Able Archer was triggered in
by hodgesrm 9y ago
The other arsenals were pretty small and the confrontations that I'm aware of were between the US and USSR. The Soviet response to Able Archer was triggered in part by paranoia about US Pershing II missile deployments, which were in progress around that time. NATO nuclear policy was almost entirely a US game as far as I know.
- jcranmer 9y agoI'm arguing less against the fact that the US and USSR drove the nuclear MAD in the Cold War than the fact that you cite the number of important nuclear powers as going from 2 to 9. In terms of modern countries, the US and Russia are the only countries with significant stockpiles. UK and France have reduced their stockpiles from the Cold War (so if they were insignificant then, they're even more so now). The other 5 countries have increased or maintained stockpiles, but only China reaches British/French levels. India, Pakistan, and Israel have even fewer and are only sufficient to effect war on a small scale against specific rivals. North Korea's nukes are incapable of doing anything more than seriously pissing off the entire world (arguably, their ability to shell Seoul is more effective deterrent than their nukes).