Terrorism under a Nuclear Umbrella: Threat and Response

The central questions regarding military force for a democratic nation state are: can war be expected, does military force deter a war, and should a war erupt, can the state endure it and emerge victorious. Force buildup derives from the operational response to the threat. The problem that states and militaries face today is that there is no generic formula for force application and force buildup relevant to a threat that combines large scale – even global – terrorism and conventional capabilities, all under the threat of a nuclear umbrella.