Nuclear salience in decline? [WP1035]

This Conference asked the following questions:

• What is the political and military utility of nuclear weapons and how is it changing?
• Can a decline in nuclear salience be identified, and to what extent is it a conscious, planned process?
•  In what states is it most, and least, pronounced?
• What salience do non-nuclear states attribute to nuclear weapons, and what are the perspectives on drawdown and reduced salience among such states with a US security guarantee?
• What of those aspiring to such a guarantee, such as Georgia and Ukraine?
• What is the prospect of a ‘deterrent marketplace’?