Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

The Race to Destruction
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
274
widened, perhaps nuclear conflict, and similar concerns may have
inhibited each of the superpowers on other occasions as well. Suppose
that reduction of the deterrent capacity would tend to increase the
aggressiveness of one or the other of the superpowers, not an unlikely
consequence. Then it would increase the likelihood of superpower
conflict, and with it, the likelihood of nuclear war. It is not obvious that
the prospects for peace and survival are enhanced significantly, or
perhaps at all, by efforts to reduce nuclear arsenals if such moves are
not an integral part of a more general program to constrain state
violence. 11
It should be mentioned that much of the study of nuclear deterrence
in the West is of limited relevance, because it is restricted to the
problem of deterring the USSR, omitting as unthinkable the
corresponding question that arises with regard to the other superpower.
We would doubtless find the mirror image in Soviet books and journals.
The disarmament movement—particularly those elements in it that
can gain media attention—has concentrated on demonstrating the
awesome consequences of nuclear war and on various plans to halt or
reverse the arms race. One might feel that the first of these endeavors is
an insult to the intelligence, but perhaps those who judge otherwise are
correct. If so, then the task of reiterating the obvious is an important
one. The second line of action is also highly important, though not, in
my opinion, for the reasons generally adduced; I will return to that. But
the most significant issues may well lie elsewhere.
If we are concerned to avert nuclear war, our primary concern should
be to lessen tensions and conflicts at the points where superpower
confrontation is likely to develop, the Third World posing the greatest
threat. There has rarely been a serious likelihood of war breaking out
over European issues, though propagandistic exploitation of the
superpower conflict to achieve other ends has led to concentration on