Deterrence is a 1999 political thriller drama film written and directed by Rod Lurie, depicting fictional events about nuclear brinkmanship.

It marks the feature directorial debut of Lurie, who was previously a film critic for the New York Daily News, Premiere Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Movieline, among others.

A freak blizzard traps Emerson and his entourage at a diner in the remote town of Aztec, occupied by chef and owner Harvey, waitress Katie, local resident Ralph and married tourists Taylor and Lizzie Woods.

Emerson and his team also learn that in the process of invasion, Iraqi troops killed a UN peacekeeping mission largely staffed by U.S. armed forces and medical personnel.

The U.S. learns that Iraq purchased their black-market weapons from France, supposedly an ally of the U.S., whilst it is also revealed that sites of Iraqi missile launchers include other traditional opponents of the U.S., such as Libya and North Korea.

Harvey, Katie and the Woods' oppose using nuclear weapons whilst Ralph tells Emerson that he will have the vote of every "real" American if he carries out his threat in defense of U.S. forces.

Whilst some of Iraq's missiles successfully land on their targets, their nuclear warheads do not detonate; Baghdad is the only city destroyed—a development that surprises Emerson's staff.

In the speech, Emerson reveals that it was actually the U.S. government that secretly sold nuclear weapons to Iraq, using the French as intermediaries whilst pretending to know nothing about it.

The plan was carried out in order to prevent Iraq from gaining an independent, fully capable nuclear arsenal by instead selling them deliberately sabotaged missiles that could never function properly.

That's why a movie like Deterrence, Rod Lurie's clunky political thriller about nuclear brinksmanship in the near future, probably serves some useful purpose, despite its ham-fisted preachiness and mediocre acting...With its blunt admonitory tone and single-set location (reminiscent of 12 Angry Men), it often has the feel of a high school civics lesson packaged as melodrama.

Its editorial pretensions are underscored by an opening black-and-white montage of actual presidents from Franklin D. Roosevelt through Bill Clinton lambasting war.