Albert Wohlstetter

Albert Wohlstetter (1913-1997) applied mathematical logic to strategic policy issues at the RAND Corporation in the 1950s and 1960s, and then a political scientist at the University of Chicago until he retired in 1980. His wife was the equally distinguished analyst Roberta Wohlstetter (1912-2007); they met as law students, briefly studying law to please their parents; his original scholarship was in modern dance, but they collaborated in the ballet of nuclear war.

He certainly was involved with neoconservatives, but was not considered a major part of the neoconservative movement. He was, however, a "hard-line" Reaganite opposed to Henry Kissinger's models of detente. Among those who consider him an intellectual mentor are:
 * Ahmed Chalabi
 * Zalmay Khalizad
 * Richard Perle, a classmate of the Wohlstetters' daughter, who writes of listening spellbound at their swimming pool
 * Paul Wolfowitz, who was a student at the University of Chicago, and who regarded Wohlstetter as more of an influence than Leo Strauss.

Survivable deterrence
One of his first contributions was to establish that medium-range bombers, positioned around the periphery of the Soviet Union, were both vulnerable and destabilizing. He led a shift to a combination of intercontinental ballistic missiles and long-range, US-based bombers that could be launched on warning, but recalled using the "Fail-Safe" doctrine.

Precision
He rejected the pure nuclear retaliation doctrine, and emphasized both flexible response, and the idea of a hardened second-strike force that remained credible after the worst possible attack. His emphasis on survivability did not mean he accepted Mutual Assured Deterrence, which held populations hostage; he rejected it in favor of increasingly accurate weapons for counterforce. While the technology for precision-guided munitions was not available when he did his early work, the capability was very much one he considered desirable.

Nonproliferation
Wohlstetter was dubious about nuclear nonproliferation in a world with dual-use technology. He distrusted the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, for reasons centered around the difficulty of verification, much as did George Kistiakowsky.