Nuclear weapons make war as an instrument of policy obsolete

Evidence

In an era of nuclear weaponry, the industrialisation of war has proceeded to a point at which, as was mentioned earlier, the obsolescence of Clausewitz’s main doctrine has become apparent to everyone. The only point of holding nuclear weapons—apart from their possible symbolic value in world politics—is to deter others from using them. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 186

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Total war makes warfare useless as a political instrument — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 156; Proliferating nuclear weapons increase the risk of accidental world-ending war — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 610; Industrialized weaponry and fixed borders make territorial conquest obsolete — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 392 (+4 more)

Related

• Total war makes warfare useless as a political instrument (similarity 0.90)
• Industrialized weaponry and fixed borders make territorial conquest obsolete (similarity 0.89)
• Proliferating nuclear weapons increase the risk of accidental world-ending war (similarity 0.83)
• Modern nuclear and biological weapons are destructively unprecedented in history (similarity 0.81)
• Cheapening nuclear weapons is eroding the precondition for deterrence (similarity 0.79)
• A single technological leap can render an entire opposing arsenal obsolete (similarity 0.79)
• Nuclear weapons grew cheaper as they proliferated, undermining deterrence (similarity 0.79)
• Nuclear weapons differ by a tradition of their nonuse (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Industrialized weaponry and fixed borders make territorial conquest obsolete #expands (0.60) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 392
• Proliferating nuclear weapons increase the risk of accidental world-ending war #complicates (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 610
• Dominant weapons become obsolete when their intended fights never occur #corroborates (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 456
• A single technological leap can render an entire opposing arsenal obsolete #exemplifies (0.50) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 562
• Cheap weapons of mass destruction will erode expensive conventional forces #complicates (0.40)
• Nuclear weapons grew cheaper as they proliferated, undermining deterrence #complicates (0.40) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 602