Atomic steppe : how Kazakhstan gave up the bomb / Togzhan Kassenova.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kassenova, Togzhan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nuclear disarmament--Kazakhstan--History.

Nuclear disarmament.

Nuclear weapons--Government policy--Kazakhstan--History.

Nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons--Kazakhstan--History.

Nuclear weapons--Kazakhstan--Testing--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Atomic Steppe tells the untold true story of how the obscure country of Kazakhstan said no to the most powerful weapons in human history. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the marginalized Central Asian republic suddenly found itself with the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal on its territory. Would it give up these fire-ready weapons—or try to become a Central Asian North Korea? This book takes us inside Kazakhstan's extraordinary and little-known nuclear history from the Soviet period to the present. For Soviet officials, Kazakhstan's steppe was not an ecological marvel or beloved homeland, but an empty patch of dirt ideal for nuclear testing. Two-headed lambs were just the beginning of the resulting public health disaster for Kazakhstan—compounded, when the Soviet Union collapsed, by the daunting burden of becoming an overnight nuclear power. Equipped with intimate personal perspective and untapped archival resources, Togzhan Kassenova introduces us to the engineers turned diplomats, villagers turned activists, and scientists turned pacifists who worked toward disarmament. With thousands of nuclear weapons still present around the world, the story of how Kazakhs gave up their nuclear inheritance holds urgent lessons for global security.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

MAPS, TABLES, AND PHOTOGRAPHS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

EXPLANATORY NOTES

ABBREVIATIONS

PART 1: RULED BY RUSSIA, SCARRED BY NUCLEAR TESTS: KAZAKHSTAN UNDER THE RUSSIAN SHADOW

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1 THE STEPPE

CHAPTER 2 FORTY YEARS OF NUCLEAR TESTS

CHAPTER 3 THE HUMAN TOLL

CHAPTER 4 THE NATION RISES

CHAPTER 5 THE SWAN SONG OF THE SOVIET UNION

PART 2: FREEDOM DAWNS, BUT THE ARSENAL REMAINS

CHAPTER 6 FEARS IN WASHINGTON AND ALMA-ATA

CHAPTER 7 A TEMPORARY NUCLEAR POWER

CHAPTER 8 THE FINAL PUSH

CHAPTER 9 PROJECT SAPPHIRE AND THE NUNN-LUGAR COOPERATIVE THREAT REDUCTION PROGRAM

CHAPTER 10 FAREWELL TO BOMBS

EPILOGUE REIMAGINING THE ATOMIC STEPPE

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Mrz 2022)

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781503629936

1503629937

OCLC:

1280407481