Cross-Domain Deterrence Strategy in an Era of Complexity

Deterrence theory, which emerged during the Cold War, explains how states can use nuclear threats to prevent nuclear war. Today, however, the threat landscape is significantly more complex. Alongside ever-more sophisticated nuclear weapons arsenals, contemporary threats include cyberwarfare, anti-satellite weapons, robotic drones, and advanced conventional weapons. To deal with the new threat environment, the Pentagon identified five operational domains: land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace. The resulting model is an integrated, flexible regime that is able to deter threats across domains. In this volume, a leading cast of scholars and national security practitioners explore the logic and application of cross-domain deterrence in theory and practice.

Jon R. Lindsay is Assistant Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. He previously served in the U.S. Navy with operational assignments in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. He is a co-editor of China and Cybersecurity (with Tai Ming Cheung, Derek S. Reveron, Oxford).

Erik Gartzke is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been a member of the research faculty since 2007. He is a co-editor of Nonproliferation Policy and Nuclear Posture (with Neil Narang and Matthew Kroenig) and Causes and Consequences of Nuclear Proliferation (with Robert Rauchhaus and Matthew Kroenig).