West: As with any prediction about the face of war, Brezinski’s theory lasted four years before it was proven wrong. It’s true that imbalance can lure policymakers into war. These perceived vulnerabilities range from monetary to military materiel to the lack of nuclear arsenals. But wars are as unpredictable as hurricanes. What we do know is that, after periods of coexistence, big wars fought among wealthy nations are hard to foresee.
O’Neill: When Brzezinski talked about a poor nation, he meant the absence of a nuclear capability. Such nations rely on conventional weapons and can use them without fear of ‘mutually assured destruction.’The countries with nuclear arms tend to be the richer states. Brezinski was implying that we can still deploy conventional, non-nuclear weapons, but they have to be on battlegrounds well outside of the nuclear-armed states.
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