Deterring a non-state actor

Submitted by apv (Spain), Mar 23, 2014 at 07:34

I want to ask you something. Knowing that Al-Qaeda is a non-state transnational actor, do you think the general logic of nuclear deterrence applies to it? Because when Waltz talks about nuclear mutual deterrence (as a supposedly stabilizing factor, something I do not necessary agree on), he is referring to states. Sometimes reducing a thesis we oppose to absurdity is a bright and powerful argument, but I would suggest that we should know beforehand the limits set by those same theories we are trying to counter. Without that, we risk putting forward a criticism that simply does not apply.

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