Should the Laws of Armed Conflict Apply to Nuclear Deterrence?
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2 Dec 2025
15:30-17:00, Lecture Theatre, Nuffield College
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Daryl Press is a Professor of Government and the Faculty Director of the Davidson Institute for Global Security at Dartmouth. He is an expert on U.S. foreign policy, nuclear deterrence, and the future of warfare. Press has written two books—Calculating Credibility (2005) and The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution (2020)—and numerous academic articles. His foreign policy commentary has appeared in popular outlets such as Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, the Washington Post and The Atlantic Monthly. Dr. Press is the co-Director of the Dartmouth-Sandia nuclear Boot Camp, which trains national security analysts in the technical underpinnings of the nuclear deterrence mission. He has worked for more than two decades as a consultant for the United States Defense Department, and he is a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council. Press received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Daryl Press (Professor of Government, Dartmouth College) will present "Unintended Consequences: Why the Laws of Armed Conflict Should Not Apply to Nuclear Deterrence.” Press argues that the law of armed conflict (LOAC) is intended to reduce suffering during wars by minimising the harm that conflicts inflict upon noncombatants. The application of LOAC principles to the war plans that underpin nuclear deterrence seems logical and necessary. After all, few military activities put civilians at greater risk than nuclear war. Unfortunately, LOAC principles, when applied in the nuclear domain, have serious unintended consequences. Adherence to LOAC by US nuclear planners is catalyzing a new nuclear arms race—which is just beginning now and poised to accelerate. Even worse, the demands of LOAC are driving the United States to adopt policies that make accidental nuclear war more likely. LOAC is a means to an end: a legal tradition intended to reduce human suffering. As such, it needs to be adapted—or applied more narrowly—to achieve LOAC’s primary goals without increasing the dangers of the nuclear age.
Commenting on Press’ approach will be Janina Dill (Professor of Global Security and Co-Director of ELAC, University of Oxford), providing insights based on the research findings of a two-year collaborative project on Law, Ethics, and Nuclear Weapons, which is forthcoming as a special issue in Security Studies. The special issue incorporates scholarship by Fiona Cunningham, Scott Sagan and Janina Dill, Giovanni Mantilla, and Steve Fetter and Sébastien Philippe, concerning the role of law and ethics in British, Chinese, and US nuclear doctrine as well as reflection on the strategic and ethical reasons for legalising nuclear deterrence and use. The event will include a Q&A and will be chaired by Lauren Sukin (John G. Winant Associate Professor in U.S. Foreign Policy, University of Oxford.)