The deterrent logic of limited nuclear options: A case study of Pakistan

How do contemporary nuclear powers facing conventionally superior adversaries utilise limited nuclear options to bolster deterrence? This study empirically examines the deterrence policy of Pakistan, which introduced limited nuclear options employing tactical nuclear weapons under its policy of full-spectrum deterrence. Pakistan can be seen as intending to utilise limited nuclear use options as a tool to increase the perceived risk, in the eyes of the adversary, that an escalatory process that may eventually become uncontrollable is triggered even by the enemy’s relatively less grave aggression, thereby bolstering deterrence.