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

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910786379403321
• Autore: Gavin Francis J
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Ithaca ; ; London, : Cornell University Press, 2012
• ISBN: 0-8014-5675-4; 0-8014-6532-X; 0-8014-6576-1
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (231 p.)
• Collana: Cornell Studies in Security Affairs
• Disciplina: 355.02/170973
• Soggetti: Nuclear weapons - Government policy - United States - History; Nuclear nonproliferation - Government policy - United States - History; Nuclear arms control - Government policy - United States - History; United States Foreign relations 1945-1989; United States Foreign relations 1989-
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: 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
• Sommario/riassunto: 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.