PowerPoint Presentation - Tactical Nuclear Weapons: The Debate within NATO

Should NATO rely on tactical nuclear weapons to offset the Warsaw PactŐs conventional superiority?

ĄPolitical constraints among the allies

ĄIssues of authorization and control

ĄDue to massively increased casualties on a nuclear battlefield, more rather than fewer conventional forces would be required to carry out military objectives
ĄCost of maintaining nuclear infrastructure absorbs resources that could otherwise be used to achieve conventional parity with the Warsaw Pact
ĄŇSlippery slope:Ó use of tactical nuclear weapons in war could lead to a full-scale strategic nuclear exchange