Why conventional deterrence deserves more study

Do you enjoy playing nuclear strategy games?

Nuclear strategy games have been useful professionally but are not especially enjoyable; the research focus is conventional deterrence and how ordinary forces prevent conflict and manage escalation.

Nuclear deterrence has a large specialist literature and many exercises. Conventional deterrence asks how visible, usable military forces can prevent war without crossing the nuclear threshold, including the risks and force-management choices involved. The latter remains the professional focus because far fewer analysts study it, despite extensive experience with nuclear scenarios.