The wretched atom : America's global gamble with peaceful nuclear technology / Jacob Darwin Hamblin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hamblin, Jacob Darwin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear industry--United States--History--20th century.

Nuclear industry.

Nuclear energy--Government policy--United States.

Nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy--Government policy.

History.

United States.

Nuclear energy--Economic aspects--United States.

Nuclear energy--Economic aspects.

Nuclear nonproliferation--International cooperation.

Nuclear nonproliferation.

United States--Foreign relations--20th century.

International relations.

United States--Foreign economic relations.

International economic relations.

Diplomatic relations.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

x, 314 pages, 18 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]

Summary:

"After the Second World War, the United States offered a new kind of atom that differed from the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This atom would cure diseases, produce new foods, make deserts bloom, and provide abundant energy for all. It was an atom destined for the formerly colonized, recently occupied, and mostly non-white parts of the world that were dubbed the "wretched of the earth" by Frantz Fanon. The "peaceful atom" had so much propaganda potential that President Dwight Eisenhower used it to distract the world from his plan to test even bigger thermonuclear weapons. His scientists said the peaceful atom would quicken the pulse of nature, speeding nations along the path of economic development and helping them to escape the clutches of disease, famine, and energy shortfalls. That promise became one of the most misunderstood political weapons of the twentieth century. It was adopted by every subsequent US president to exert leverage over other nations' weapons programs, to corner world markets of uranium and thorium, and to secure petroleum supplies. Other countries embraced it, building reactors and training experts. Atomic promises were embedded in Japan's postwar recovery, Ghana's pan-Africanism, Israel's quest for survival, Pakistan's brinksmanship with India, and Iran's pursuit of nuclear independence. As The Wretched Atom shows, promoting civilian atomic energy was an immense gamble, and it was never truly peaceful. American promises ended up exporting violence and peace in equal measure. While the United States promised peace and plenty, it planted the seeds of dependency and set in motion the creation of today's expanded nuclear club"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I Atomic Promises

1. The Have-Nots

2. A Thousand Years Into One

pt. II Atomic Propaganda

3. Forgetting The Bad Dreams Of The Past

4. Colored And White Atoms

5. Turf Wars And Green Revolutions

pt. III Atomic Prohibition

6. Water, Blood, And The Nuclear Club

7. Nuclear Mosques And Monuments

8. The Era Of Distrust.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Hamblin, Jacob Darwin. Wretched atom

ISBN:

9780197526903

019752690X

OCLC:

1197725497