During the Cold War, the United States used deterrence, arms control, and diplomacy to coexist with a hostile, untrustworthy adversary.
Humanitarian agencies have long been uncomfortable with the contradiction of using deterrence mechanisms in humanitarian operations, although the increased use of armed guards has been a noticeable trend over the last decade or so.
The administration argues, among other things, that it has no blanket policy of detaining people to deter the actions of others, and that it uses deterrence only as one of several discretionary factors in determining whether to detain or release mothers with children.
Park has stressed that she'll use "robust deterrence" to counter the North Korean military threat.
Worse still, the White House is set on developing, not just researching, a new generation of battlefield "mini-nukes" whose only application is offensive use, not deterrence.
The English language edition of the Global Times, a state-run tabloid, said Pyongyang was attempting "to use nuclear deterrence to make up for its economic losses and political insecurity".
This can range from completely free access and movement, to full bunkerisation with little movement outside, or to the use of deterrence in the form of armed protection.
As one retired senior U.S. commander said, North Korea building ICBMs with nuclear warheads is "a done deal". A pre-emptive American military strike on this capability would be far more dangerous and deadly than the use of deterrence to prevent its use.
In response to the lawsuits and criticism, ICE last month announced new standards for family detention, which included completely ending the use of deterrence as a rationale for detention and reviewing the cases of all people held longer than 90 days.
