The New Cold War: U.S. Prepares for Nuclear Expansion Amidst Global Tensions

The U.S. needs to be prepared to expand its nuclear force to deter the growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea, say senior Biden administration officials.

Decisions on whether to deploy more nuclear weapons are being left to the incoming Trump administration, which has yet to spell out its defense plans.

During his first term in office, Donald Trump endorsed all of the major nuclear weapons programs he inherited from the Obama administration and added two new nuclear systems.

The Trump transition didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Biden administration’s policy is codified in its “Nuclear Weapons Employment Planning Guidance” and comes as China is proceeding with a major nuclear buildup, Russia is balking at arms-control talks, and North Korea is increasing its nuclear-weapon arsenal.

That highly classified directive, which was signed by President Biden earlier this year, instructs the Pentagon to develop options to simultaneously deter aggression by China, Russia and North Korea.

Those nations that have been cooperating on military matters, raising the risk that Washington might need to grapple with several conflicts at the same time.

Biden’s policy, administration officials say, stresses the importance of developing advanced nonnuclear systems and deepening military cooperation with allies in Asia and Europe to cope with the potential dangers. The Pentagon, however, is also preparing options to deploy more nuclear warheads should those efforts prove insufficient, given the possibi…  lity of arms-control setbacks and further delays in fielding the next generation of U.S. nuclear systems.

“If current trends continue in the negative direction with Russia saying ‘no’ to arms control, China building up and North Korea building up, there may be a need to increase the number of deployed U.S. nuclear weapons in the future,” said a senior Biden administration official.

“The question is can you make it less of a need if you do better on the conventional side and by integrating closely with allies.”

A declassified report on the nuclear employment guidance that will be sent to Congress on Friday doesn’t outline specific options under consideration but notes that “it may be necessary to adapt current U.S. nuclear force capability, posture, composition, or size” to deal with “multiple adversaries who are making nuclear weapons more central to their national security strategies.”