"After the Cold War, traditional deterrence theory has come under criticism from a number of
perspectives, including the reduced value of deterrence accompanying the disappearance of conflicts
between major powers, and the ineffectiveness of deterrence in dealing with regional adversaries
and radical international terrorist organizations. Complex deterrence theory considers not only the
nuclear weapons-based dyadic deterrence of the Cold War era but also the complicated deterrence
relationships that encompass countries suspected of developing nuclear weapons such as North Korea
and Iran, as well as non-state actors such as international terrorist organizations. This theory also
examines the use of various military technologies other than nuclear weapons, as well as nonmilitary
means, in deterrence. Although the theory has yet to be systemized to the same extent as Cold War
nuclear deterrence theory, it nonetheless incorporates beneficial perspectives from which to analyze
the post-Cold War security environment."
