Assessing the Contemporary Strategic Utility of Trident: British Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

Abstract

Without fail, every single British government since the Cold War has espoused the strategic importance of the British nuclear deterrent, ‘Trident’. Spurred by the recent 2016 decision to renew Britain’s nuclear capability, the following thesis will seek to examine how the British political establishment view the country’s nuclear arsenal, and more importantly, Trident’s value to the UK in its contemporary strategic environment.