US-China Strategic Nuclear Terminology: A Primer

During a discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on May 5, Tsinghua professor Li Bin characterized existing U.S.-China nuclear dialogues as “difficult and inefficient, in part because of differences in the ways that Americans and Chinese think about nuclear weapons.” To alleviate such misunderstandings and establish a common language for exchange, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (P5) have undertaken a survey of relevant vocabulary to produce a nuclear glossary under China’s leadership. Although some see this effort as a distraction, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller and Li agree that it is a necessary step to deepen mutual understanding in a potentially dangerous area.