Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - Nuclear Warfare

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...

If a nuclear war between American and Soviet forces or the forces of their allies were to start, how would it end? This soberting analysis, one of the few published treatments of War termination, identifies the policies and strategic issues involved in the attempt to control and end a nuclear war should one ever start. The author presents both a comprehensive overview of the theory of war termination and a broad-based analysis of the specific aspects of the question. Throughout, the aim is to provide policymakers and students of military strategy with a tool for improved strategic war...

This volume takes a perspective on the debate over deterrence theory that has never been used before. Other books either address the differences between the two competing schools of thought--those who support Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) and those who support nuclear warfighting--or examine particular policies from within the perspective of one or the other school of thought. Cori Dauber examines deterrence theory at a structural level, which allows a focus on the similarities between the major perspectives on nuclear strategic doctrine. By examining such issues as validity standards...

"The Long Wait "examines the history of the United States' dealings with the United Kingdom on nuclear matters in the first dozen years following the Second World War. Chief among the issues analyzed are whether to share nuclear information, know-how, and technology with the British; whether to cooperate in the control and allocation of critical raw and nuclear materials, whether to grant the British any right of consultation on use of American nuclear bombers based in Britain, and on what terms to introduce into Britain American intermediate range nuclear-tipped missiles.

The lifting of the Iron Curtain in response to pressures for democratic reform in the Eastern Bloc nations and the refusal of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to use the Red Army to police countries of the Warsaw Pact have led to a radically changed international environment. Preceded by over 40 years of peace and stability, unprecedented in the history of modern Europe, the Cold War ended in a climate of upheaval and uncertainty. This volume addresses issues associated with the political and military vacuum created by recent events and explores in depth a problem of military...

South Asia is often viewed as a potential nuclear flashpoint and a probable source of nuclear terrorism. But, how valid are such perceptions? This book seeks to address this question and assesses the region's nuclear security from two principal standpoints. First, it evaluates the robustness of the Indo-Pakistani mutual deterrence by analysing the strength and weaknesses of the competing arguments regarding the issue. It also analyses the causes and consequences of nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan, the nature of deterrence structure in the region and the challenges of...

In this study, first published in 1966, Quester analyzes pre-nuclear age theories of deterrence to equip us with perspective and data by which current theories can be evaluated. Quester presents a forceful argument in support of the relevance of history to discussions of military strategy.