EWI Vice President W. Pal Sidhu examines the 2010 U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review and suggests that, despite its ambitious agenda, it fails to address nuclear nonproliferation.

Writing in his fortnightly column on livemint.com, Sidhu writes that the latest QDR mandates a “do-it-all-military,” giving the defense department responsibilities in several areas including the delegation of natural resources, the effects of rapid urbanization, the effects of climate change, disease control and natural disaster relief. As ambitious an agenda, Sidhu suggests, necessitates the the U.S. to work closely with allies and partners.

“This might explain why, unlike previous QDRs, the 2010 QDR downplays the threat of China,” he writes. “Clearly, a U.S., which is deeply indebted to China, cannot afford to paint its de facto banker as a potential threat.”

The QDR also recognizes India and its growing military capacity. “If there is any doubt that New Delhi is being seen as a strategic counterweight to Beijing in the future, it is allayed by the QDR’s assertion that Washington now sees India as a ‘net provider of security in the Indian Ocean and beyond,’” he adds.

Sidhu points out, however, that there is an apparent contradiction between the QDR and the overwhelming presence of U.S. nuclear weapons, calling the continued emphasis on nuclear weapons “dangerous and self-defeating.” 

“It is dangerous because, in the past few years, military units dealing with nuclear weapons have repeatedly been found negligent in their handling of these weapons, perhaps reflecting their diminishing role in the missions confronting the US military,” he writes. “It is self-defeating because the U.S. military needs a new set of doctrines and conventional weapon systems to carry out its ambitious missions.”

“Clearly, ensuring the success of the mission and the 2010 QDR should be more important than preserving the relics of the Cold War,” he concludes.

Click here to read Sidhu’s article on livemint.com