WCU Stories      October 2, 2018

David Dorondo, Western Carolina University associate professor of history, will speak on “The U.S. Army and Nuclear Deterrence, 1955-1991: A European Historical Context” as the Carolina Roundtable on the World Wars meets Wednesday, Oct. 17.

The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. in Room 211 of WCU’s Health and Human Sciences Building.

The release of the 2018 “U.S. Nuclear Posture Review” produced discussion, sometimes heated and sometimes ill-informed, about the theoretical capability of U.S. nuclear forces to respond to non-nuclear strategic attacks, such as cyber attacks and attack by hypersonic conventional weapons, Dorondo said. His presentation will review the historical fact that U.S. and allied nuclear forces in NATO always possessed that theoretical capability and operational rationale.

“For several decades, the United States Army played a significant role in contributing to such nuclear deterrent forces in Europe. These fielded nuclear forces were adjusted over time to meet changing geo-strategic circumstances until they were stood down in 1991,” Dorondo said.

Dorondo gave a presentation on the same topic in August as part of a U.S. Strategic Command speaker series.

The Oct. 17 meeting is free and open to everyone. For more information, contact Dorondo at 828-227-3908 or dorondo@wcu.edu.