Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - Nuclear Warfare

This collection of papers rigorously examines the current place of deterrence in international security relations, delivering the best of contemporary thinking. This is a special issue of the leading journal Contemporary Security Policy.

It shows how and why nuclear deterrence was the central organizing mechanism for international security relations in the second half of the twentieth century. It has been replaced by a new global security environment in which the central role of deterrence, both nuclear and otherwise, appears to have diminished. The Cold War has been...

This new volume explores what the acquisition of nuclear weapons means for the life of a protracted conflict.

The book argues that the significance of the possession of nuclear weapons in conflict resolution has been previously overlooked. Saira Khan argues that the acquisition of nuclear weapons by states keeps conflicts alive indefinitely, as they are maintained by frequent crises and low-to-medium intensity violence, rather than escalating to full-scale wars. This theory therefore emphasises the importance of nuclear weapons in both war-avoidance and peace-avoidance. The...

This book is a ground-breaking analysis of the India-Pakistan nuclear confrontation as a form of 'cold war' - that is, a hostile relationship between nuclear rivals.

Drawing on nuclear rivalries between similar pairs (United States-Soviet Union, United States-China, Soviet Union-China, and United States-North Korea), the work examines the rise, process and potential end of the cold war between India and Pakistan. It identifies the three factors driving the India-Pakistan rivalry: ideational factors stemming from partition; oppositional roles created by the distribution of...

This book examines the Indian nuclear policy, doctrine, strategy and posture, clarifying the elastic concept of credible minimum deterrence at the center of the country's approach to nuclear security. This concept, Karnad demonstrates, permits the Indian nuclear forces to be beefed up, size and quality-wise, and to acquire strategic reach and clout, even as the qualifier minimum suggests an overarching concern for moderation and economical use of resources, and strengthens India's claims to be a responsible nuclear weapon state.

Based on interviews with Indian political leaders, nuclear...

How was it put together? Who decides what targets to hit and why? When and where would it be put into action? Using recently declassified documents and interviews with government officials and military planners, the authors have pieced together an absorbing history of the Pentagon's most secret war plan.

They have unraveled the huge, hidden network of satellites, computers, radar, and microwave links that gathers intelligence on the Soviet Union and would help to execute the S.I.O.P. in time of war. They compare Washington's rhetoric to the cold reality of the actual war plans on the...

An eloquent and sobering book which draws a new and clearer picture of how nuclear war would perhaps alter human life on earth forever.

This book is comprised of essays by nationally recognized scholars and public figures who urge a reassessment of the impact of the nuclear winter hypothesis on current ideas of nuclear deterrence, limited nuclear war, and war fighting doctrines. It provides a timely discussion of the policy implications of the possible effects of nuclear war and creates a dialogue between those who believe that established deterrence policies are adequate and those arguing for a radical reconstruction of those policies. The book also addresses issues touching on the politics of prevention, identifying...

For nearly forty years, U.S. deterrence policy has depended on nuclear weapons, making the modernization of those weapons a key goal of every administration. "Nuclear Weapons, Policies, and the Test Ban Issue" presents a cogent discussion of the reasons why the United States should actively continue its nuclear weapons program. The authors claim that weapons testing and development has neither kept up with technological advances nor logically followed from professed U.S. policy. They attribute these shortcomings to such forces as budget limitations, alliance politics, domestic politics,...

Games of Chicken proposes basing nuclear weapons policies on both historical and analytical arguments. Schwartzman analyzes the trade-off between the aggression risk, which U.S. policy has sought to minimize, and the pre-emption risk, which has been ignored. This analysis is then applied to policy developments under each of the post-war U.S. presidents. The historical analysis also demonstrates the importance of the role of myths in the development of policy, most notably: the myth of the nuclear strategy expert; the evil empire myth; and the economic necessity myth. Finally, the...

This is an excellent advanced study in strategy in the nuclear age. Cimbala covers the field thoroughly. He challenges much of the conventional and established approaches to deterrence and crisis management. . . . Cimbala's work is a valuable and refreshing addition to the literature. Scholars will find it enriching and challenging. . . . This is a must acquisition for university and professional libraries. "Choice"

Cimbala critically examines the rational behind Western defense policies based on deterrence. According to the author, nuclear strategizing--or coping with outside...