Johnston argues that the preemptive first use of nuclear weapons, long the foundation of American nuclear strategy, was not the carefully reasoned response to a growing Soviet conventional threat. Instead, it was part of a process of cultural "socialization," by which the United States reconstituted the previously nationalist strategic cultures of the European allies into a seamless western community directed by Washington.

Johnston argues that the preemptive first-use of nuclear weapons, long the foundation of American nuclear strategy, was not the carefully reasoned response to a growing Soviet conventional threat. Building a bridge between theory and practice, this book examines the usefulness of cultural theory in international history.