Categories of steps to deter a country's use of nuclear weapons
| Perceptions of country being deterred | Restraint from undesired action: Hence, do not use nuclear weapons | Action being deterred: Use of nuclear weapons |
|---|---|---|
| Benefits and advantages | Increase benefits and improve advantage | Deny benefits and decrease advantages |
| Costs and disadvantages | Decreasing costs and reducing disadvantages | Impose costs and increase disadvantages |
Alternative nuclear targets
| PMESII category | Alternative nuclear target examined |
|---|---|
| Political | Nuclear demonstration detonation |
| Military | Conventional military forces |
| Economic | Transportation nodes |
| Social | Population center (Cities) |
| Information | High-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) |
| Infrastructure | Power generation plants |
Impacts by types of nuclear attacks
| Impacts | Types of nuclear attacks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo | Military forces | EMP | Economic | Infrastructure | Population centers | |
| Adversary vital interest | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Civilian causalities | No | Maybe | No | Some | Some | Many |
| Civilian impact | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Impact other countries | No | Maybe | Yes | Maybe | Maybe | Maybe (Fallout) |
| Viability of response in kind | No | Unlikely | No | Maybe | Maybe | Unlikely |