Nuclear Statecraft

J. Gavin Francis

Description

"Gavin not only succeeds in disentangling postwar nuclear history from the US-Soviet rivalry of the Cold War, but provides a deeper and more complex understanding of the long-term effects of nuclear weapons on Great Power relations."- Matthew Jones International AffairsWe 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.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• Nuclear weapon
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 11 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801465765
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

NuclearStatecraft

AVolumeintheSeries

CornellStudiesinSecurityAffairs

edited byRobert J. Art, Robert Jervis, and Stephen M. Walt

Alistoftitlesinthisseriesisavailableatwww.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Nuclear Statecraft

HistoryandStrategyin America’s Atomic Age

F r a n c i s J . G av i n

CornellUniversityPress

Ithaca and London

Copyright ©2012by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House,512East State Street, Ithaca, New York14850.

First published2012by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Gavin, Francis J.  Nuclear statecraft : history and strategy in America's atomic age / Francis J. Gavin.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN9780801451010(cloth : alk. paper) 1weapons—Government policy—United States—History.. Nuclear 2. Nuclear nonproliferation—Government policy—United States—History.3. Nuclear arms control—Government policy—United States—History.4States—Foreign. United relations—1945–1989.5. United States—Foreign relations—1989Title.– I.  JZ5665.G382013 355.02'170973—dc232012022113

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Cloth printing10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ForOlivia

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction 1Theory, and Statecraft in the Nuclear Age. History, 2. The Myth of Flexible Response: American Strategy in Europe during the1960s 3Weapons, Statecraft, and the. Nuclear Berlin Crisis,1958–1962 4from the Past: Proliferation Lessons. Blasts from the1960s 5Nixon. Nuclear 6. That Seventies Show: The Consequences of Parity Revisited 7as It Ever Was? Nuclear Weapons in the. Same TwentyFirst Century 8. Global Zero, History, and the “Nuclear Revolution”

Notes Index

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Acknowledgments

Thisbookcouldnothavebeencompletedwithoutthegeneroussup port of several organizations: the Nobel Institute in Oslo; the Donald D. Harrington Faculty Fellowship; the Tom Slick Memorial Fellowship of the University of Texas; the Policy Research Institute of the LBJ School of Public Affairs; the Faculty Research Development program of the Uni versity of Texas; and, especially, the Smith Richardson Foundation, which awarded me a Junior Faculty Fellowship in International Security and Foreign Policy. I am grateful for the wonderful research assistants who have done such great work for me over the years: Brent Chaney, Anya Cherkasova, Braden Civens, Ben Davis, Rex Douglas, Michael Gerson, Leslie Holmes, Katy Koch, Patrick McMillin, Colin Murphy, Justin Patrick, Megan Reiss, Yana Skorobogatov, Miha Vindis, and especially Jessica Mahoney. MycolleaguesattheLBJSchoolandtheRobertS.StraussCenterfor International Security and Law at the University of Texas are the best one could find anywhere, and I have been lucky to benefit from their friend ship and inspiration. I have been particularly fortunate to have two deans, Bobby Ray Inman and Jim Steinberg, who provided extraordinary support and mentorship throughout this project. Running a center while completing a book was possible only with the tremendous help of Jim Langdon, Greg Engle, and especially Celeste Gventer. Manypeoplereadportionsofthemanuscriptorheardmepresentpor tions of the book, and I am thankful for all the valuable feedback and advice I have received. While those who have helped improve this man uscript are too numerous to list, I am especially grateful to Melvyn Lef fler and Mira RappHooper for their ideas and advice. Two scholars have had a profound influence on how I think about these issues, and their

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