RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: April 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM

Panel: Back to History? (RR)
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 / 10:15-11:30
Talking Points for: Yan Xuetong, Tsinghua University

Nuclear Weapons and Globalization Preventing New Cold War

1. Nuclear weapons will protect the general peace for next decade. Nuclear weapons prevented the 3rd world war since the end of the World War II. Their functions cannot be removed by missile defense system within next ten years.
2. General peace is no based on the balance of power. The general peace was maintained during both the Cold War with balanced bipolarity and the post-Cold War with unipolar system. Asymmetric nuclear mutual deterrence has similar function as nuclear balance.
3. Globalization disables containment strategy. Globalization increases sensitivity of interdependence, thus it reduced the efficiency of containment strategy. The globalization decreases venerability of interdependence, thus it increase alternatives to replace retaliation.
4. Alliance per se cannot produce a cold war. Alliance has been a millennium strategy and it intense competition but not cold war.