The Development of US Nuclear Strategy at the Beginning of the 21st century

The article examines the origins of the modern US nuclear strategy, which could be found in the documents of the first months after the end of World War II, and examines the evolution of the US nuclear strategy during the Cold War and in the 1990s. Based on the strategic planning documents of the administrations of presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. The article considers the features of the US nuclear strategy in the 21st century as a tool for implementing foreign policy interests. Special attention devoted to Nuclear Posture Reviews (NPR) of 2002, 2010, and 2018 respectively and related documents. The paper assesses the degree of continuity of the US nuclear strategy in the 21st century. The author tracks the origins of Donald Trump’s nuclear policy and demonstrates its continuity with the previous Administrations’ strategies. The article describes the offensive nature of the US nuclear strategy in the 21st century, which is expressed in views on nuclear weapons as a real policy tool, not just a deterrent. Such a campaign represents a return to the settings of the initial Cold War period, and its so-called second edition of the 1980s with adjustments to the changed "strategic landscape." The origins of Washington's decision to withdraw the United States from the Treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles with Russia are determined. A growing uncertainty over the future of the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) after February of 2021 necessitates a broader chronological perspective on the evolution of the US nuclear policy in order to separate short-term considerations from long-term trends. The author's analysis of the development of the US nuclear strategy in the 21st century allows us to determine long-term trends that may manifest themselves in the further evolution of the nuclear strategy.