Nuclear statecraft : history and strategy in America's atomic age / Francis J. Gavin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gavin, Francis J.

Series:

Cornell studies in security affairs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear weapons--Government policy--United States--History.

Nuclear weapons.

Nuclear nonproliferation--Government policy--United States--History.

Nuclear nonproliferation.

Nuclear arms control--Government policy--United States--History.

Nuclear arms control.

United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--1989-.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (231 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca ; London : Cornell University Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

We are at a critical juncture in world politics. Nuclear strategy and policy have risen to the top of the global policy agenda, and issues ranging from a nuclear Iran to the global zero movement are generating sharp debate. The historical origins of our contemporary nuclear world are deeply consequential for contemporary policy, but it is crucial that decisions are made on the basis of fact rather than myth and misapprehension. In Nuclear Statecraft, Francis J. Gavin challenges key elements of the widely accepted narrative about the history of the atomic age and the consequences of the nuclear revolution. On the basis of recently declassified documents, Gavin reassesses the strategy of flexible response, the influence of nuclear weapons during the Berlin Crisis, the origins of and motivations for U.S. nuclear nonproliferation policy, and how to assess the nuclear dangers we face today. In case after case, he finds that we know far less than we think we do about our nuclear history. Archival evidence makes it clear that decision makers were more concerned about underlying geopolitical questions than about the strategic dynamic between two nuclear superpowers. Gavin's rigorous historical work not only tells us what happened in the past but also offers a powerful tool to explain how nuclear weapons influence international relations. Nuclear Statecraft provides a solid foundation for future policymaking.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. History, Theory, and Statecraft in the Nuclear Age

2. The Myth of Flexible Response

3. Nuclear Weapons, Statecraft, and the Berlin Crisis, 1958-1962

4. Blasts from the Past

5. Nuclear Nixon

6. That Seventies Show

7. Same as It Ever Was?

8. Global Zero, History, and the "Nuclear Revolution"

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780801456756

0801456754

9780801465321

080146532X

9780801465765

0801465761

OCLC:

815621173