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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > Nuclear weapons
In the late 1940s, the U.S. Department of Defense established a
nuclear weapons depository in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico.
For more than 40 years, Manzano Base served as a maintenance and
storage site for some of the most destructive weapons ever created.
Operated by the U.S. Air Force, the facility was small and obscure,
with highly restricted access. Its covert mission fostered a sense
of mystery, leaving the public to speculate about what really went
on there. The site was decommissioned in 1992 yet its rich history
continues to influence America's nuclear weapons program. This book
tells the full story of Manzano and the personnel who served there.
Firsthand accounts recall their experiences of nuclear weapons
accidents, aircraft crashes, UFO/UAF sightings and a radiation
demonstration called "tickling the tiger's tail.
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. Building
a bridge between theory and practice, this book examines the
usefulness of cultural theory in international history.
Full Contributors: Vladimir D. Andrianov, Natalya Bazhanova, Evgeniy Bazhanov, Valery I. Denisov, Georgiy Kaurov, Vladimir Li, Alexandre Y. Mansourov, Valentin I. Moiseyev, James Clay Moltz, Alexander Platkovskiy, Roald Savelyev, Larisa Zabrovskaya, Alexander Zarubin, Alexander Zhebin
Having served opposite Warsaw Pact forces in the 1950s and on
Embassy duty in the 70s in Europe, the author offers a reasoned
assessment of Britain's role in the so-called "nuclear club." He
asks whether Britain really needs to be a member.
This book presents a comprehensive overview of Ukraine's nuclear
history, beginning from its experiences within the Russian Empire
in the early 20th century, through the Soviet period, to the
emergence of Ukraine as an independent state that inherited the
world's third-largest nuclear arsenal. The book discusses the
development of the nuclear infrastructure on Ukrainian soil and
offers a rich and nuanced background of how Ukraine became an
important and integrated part of the Soviet nuclear infrastructure.
It further analyzes Ukraine's nuclear disarmament based on
extensive primary source material and places the Ukrainian nuclear
reversal process in a larger international political context where
Russias, the United States, and other players actions are
interpreted in the light of the impact on the current nuclear
non-proliferation regime. Finally, the book presents the
nuclear-related development after the nuclear disarmament. It
describes the integration of Ukraine into the international
community and the role of nuclear power in the energy mix of the
nation today. Concluding, Ukraines adaptation to the new security
situation after the Russian annexation of Crimea is described and
discussed. This volume is a must-read for scholars, researchers,
students, and policy-makers interested in a better understanding of
Ukraine's nuclear history, the political background of the conflict
in Eastern Ukraine, as well as of security studies and
international relations in general. The work on this book has been
supported by the Swedish Radiation Authority (SSM) in the Nuclear
History of Ukraine Project (2015-2019).
The proliferation of advanced weapons to volatile regions of the
world has become a major issue in the post Cold War era. It was
thought that no Third World nation could ever pose a
technologically-based threat to the great powers by acquiring
advanced weaponry. But this has proved to be wrong. The Persian
Gulf War changed the worldwide perception of the spread of
ballistic missiles to countries like Iraq. Access to a new type of
weapon--cruise missiles--poses an even greater threat. With
technology that is accessible, affordable, and relatively simple to
produce, Third World countries could acquire highly accurate,
long-range cruise missile forces to escalate local conflicts and
threaten the forces and even the territories of the industrial
powers. This book is a warning to policymakers. It is not too late
to confront the realities of cruise missile proliferation and to
devise international responses that could contain the worst
possible consequences. Carus proposes a new regime of technology
controls, security-building measures, and conflict resolution that
need to be considered, and acted on, by policymakers and
international relations experts everywhere.
Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation: A New Grand Bargain proposes
a new legal and institutional framework for counterproliferation of
nuclear weapons. Its proposal is designed to remedy the widely
acknowledged breakdown of the architecture of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty on which we can no longer rely for global
nuclear security.
First, Nuclear Weapons Counterproliferation defines the
distinctively dangerous character of contemporary nuclear risk and
explains why the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty no longer
provides a viable foundation for counterproliferation of nuclear
weapons. It then sets out the reforms needed in order to limit the
radical increase in availability, for rogue governments and
terrorists, of nuclear weapons related material and technology.
Garvey proposes a new counterproliferation architecture, to be
built on presently available scientific, legal, and institutional
resources, which could achieve a critical reduction of nuclear risk
and an expanded deterrence. Guiding principles for establishing
this new architecture are formulated, including, most importantly,
the principal mechanism for implementation, a United Nations
Security Council Counterproliferation Resolution applying equally
for all states.
This book presents what may be our best opportunity to secure a
profoundly more effective global nuclear security and counter the
world's current course to a catastrophic nuclear detonation.
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
and the evaluation of evidence, Dauber is able to assess deterrence
as a theory of persuasion, and to examine the way deterrence
discourse so shapes the thinking of policy makers and analysts that
it still drives our analysis of alternatives, even in the
post-Soviet era. Dauber concludes that deterrence is a system
designed to use weapons capabilities as a form of non-verbal
communication with an Other--for the last forty years, the Soviet
Other. Understanding these rhetorical structures and the way they
function is essential in predicting the restrictions that
deterrence places on the way the United States responds to foreign
nations. Cold War Analytical Structures and the Post Post-War World
serves as a model for how scholars in argument and persuasion can
apply their methods to real world situations.
Anthony DiFilippo explores the apparent contradictions behind
Japan's stated goal of nuclear disarmament and its tacit acceptance
of being protected by the US nuclear umbrella.
There is a significant number of nuclear and radiological sources
in Central Asia, which have contributed, are still contributing, or
have the potential to contribute to radioactive contamination in
the future. Key sources and contaminated sites of concern are: The
nuclear weapons tests performed at the Semipalatinsk Test Site
(STS) in Kazakhstan during 1949-1989. A total of 456 nuclear
weapons tests have been perf- med in the atmosphere (86), above and
at ground surface (30) and underground (340) accompanied by
radioactive plumes reaching far out of the test site. Safety trials
at STS, where radioactive sources were spread by conventional
explosives. Peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) within STS and
outside STS in Kazakhstan, producing crater lakes (e.g., Tel'kem I
and Tel'kem II), waste storage facilities (e.g., LIRA) etc.
Technologically enhanced levels of naturally occurring
radionuclides (TENORM) due to U mining and tailing. As a legacy of
the cold war and the nuclear weapon p- gramme in the former USSR,
thousands of square kilometers in the Central Asia co- tries are
contaminated. Large amounts of scale from the oil and gas
industries contain sufficient amounts of TENORM. Nuclear reactors,
to be decommissioned or still in operation. Storage of spent
nuclear fuel and other radioactive wastes. In the characterization
of nuclear risks, the risks are estimated by integrating the
results of the hazard identification, the effects assessment and
the exposure assessment.
The global threat of nuclear weapons is one of today's key
policy issues. Using a wide variety of sources, including recently
declassified information, Nathan E. Busch offers detailed
examinations of the nuclear programs in the United States, Russia,
China, Iraq, India, and Pakistan, as well as the emerging programs
in Iran and North Korea. He also assesses the current debates in
international relations over the risks associated with the
proliferation of nuclear weapons in the post--Cold War world. Busch
explores how our understanding of nuclear proliferation centers on
theoretical disagreements about how best to explain and predict the
behavior of states. His study bridges the gap between theory and
empirical evidence by determining whether countries with nuclear
weapons have adequate controls over their nuclear arsenals and
fissile material stockpiles (such as highly enriched uranium and
plutonium). Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of various
systems of nuclear weapons regulation, Busch projects what types of
controls proliferating states are likely to employ and assesses the
threat posed by the possible theft of fissile materials by aspiring
nuclear states or by terrorists. No End in Sight provides the most
comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of issues at the forefront of
contemporary international affairs. With the resurgence of the
threat of nuclear terrorism, Busch's insights and conclusions will
prove critical to understanding the implications of nuclear
proliferation.
'The young dictator comes under close scrutiny in this intelligent
account' Sunday Times When Kim Jong Un became the leader of North
Korea in 2011, many expected his rule to be short. Years later, he
remains the unchallenged dictator of a nuclear rogue state with
weaponry capable of threatening the West. In this behind-the-scenes
look, former CIA analyst and North Korea expert Jung H. Pak reveals
the explosive story of Kim Jong II's third son: the spoilt and
impetuous child, the mediocre student, the ruthless murderer, the
shrewd grand strategist.
During the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people died from
the use of nuclear weapons in Nuclear War I and other nuclear
disasters. Dr. Newtan's book describes the disastrous consequences
of the following nuclear developments all of which occurred in the
20th century: The Trinity Test of a nuclear device (explosion) The
destruction of Hiroshima by a uranium bomb The destruction of
Nagasaki by a plutonium bomb The hydrogen bomb, neutron bomb, and
cobalt bomb Radioactive fallout Radiological weapons The BRAVO Test
(hydrogen bomb) Three Mile Island nuclear reactor disaster
Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster Fermi I breeder reactor disaster
Nuclear submarine disasters (U.S., U.S.S.R.) Thresher nuclear
submarine disaster Scorpion nuclear submarine disaster Nuclear
satellite disasters Lost nuclear weapons Lost nuclear fissile
materials for weapons Nuclear waste disasters Acts of war on
nuclear facilities Nuclear terrorism Proliferation of nuclear
weapons Nuclear reactors in space Nuclear weapons in space Nuclear
waste - can it be safely stored for millennia?
What can photographs reveal about Canada’s nuclear footprint? The
Bomb in the Wilderness contends that photography is central to how
we interpret and remember nuclear activities. The impact and global
reach of Canada’s nuclear programs have been felt ever since the
atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. But do photographs alert
viewers to nuclear threat, numb them to its dangers, or actually do
both? John O’Brian’s wide-ranging and personal account of the
nuclear era presents and discusses over a hundred photographs,
ranging from military images to the atomic ephemera of consumer
culture. His fascinating analysis ensures that we do not look away.
There is probably no area of more crucial concern nor one more
subject to possible misunderstanding and riddled with paradox than
nuclear weapons and their use, not only in war, but as deterrents
to war. In Strategic Impasse, Cimbala examines the critical issues,
problems, and paradoxes inherent in the current nuclear situation.
It is from a fundamental contradiction--the usefulness of nuclear
weapons versus the undesirability of nuclear war--that nuclear
deadlock arises. Their usefulness as deterrents is based on their
destructive potential and the balance of power in Europe cannot be
adjusted until the inflexible, bipolar "balance of terror" is
addressed. Ironically, superpower sovereignty in nuclear first
strike/retaliation capability, shared across the divided East-West
political buffer zone, created the impetus for improvements in
"conventional" warfare. To the extent war can be contained below
the nuclear threshold, conventional weaponry contributes to
"deterrence by denial." One difficulty lies in the improbability of
completely isolating the nuclear from the conventional battlefield
in a European scenario. Also, a level of superpower force perceived
to be adequate in peacetime might prove to be an inadequate
intrawar deterrent. Because of the underdevelopment of conceptual
frameworks, "credible deterrence"--the creation of nuclear
campaigns designed to prevent war--remains conjectural. Highly
usable weapons require a command system that can provide for
simultaneous fighting and escalation, but escalation beyond a
certain level conflicts with control and therefore usability. In
turn, low expectations of weapon usability may weaken deterrence.
In Gorbachev's "defensivesufficiency," forces for aggression and
surprise attack would be diminished, while forces for defense would
be strengthened. The problem lies not only in differentiating
between offensive and defensive weaponry but in achieving a
consensus on such a definition by NATO's member countries. The book
is divided into three parts: the first section, "Issues of Theory
and Strategy," scrutinizes the relationship between offense and
defense and examines SDI and more inclusive strategic defense
matters. It also questions the connection between policy objectives
and force, and explores the "complication of externalities," such
as relations with allies. In section two, "Stretching Deterrence,"
Cimbala reviews the "operational art" likely to be employed by the
Soviets in a conventionally fought European war and defines and
appraises the "sensor-cyber" revolution in technology and its
impacts on preferred strategies. The final part, "Beyond
Deterrence," considers war termination scenarios and related
issues, including sociopolitical aspects, surveys the part nuclear
weapons play in superpower competition in the Third World, and
explains how issues of sovereignty effect deterrence, avoidance,
and future super power relations. Strategic Impasse will enable
scholars and students of military affairs as well as political
scientists and government officials to see beyond current "nuclear
rhetoric" and to make informed judgments on an issue that
fundamentally affects this nation's and the world's future.
From the dawn of the atomic age to today, nuclear weapons have been
central to the internal dynamics of US alliances in Europe and
Asia. But nuclear weapons cooperation in US alliances has varied
significantly between allies and over time. This book explores the
history of America's nuclear posture worldwide, delving into
alliance structures and interaction during and since the end of the
Cold War to uncover the underlying dynamics of nuclear weapons
cooperation between the US and its allies. Combining in-depth
empirical analysis with an accessible theoretical lens, the book
reveals that US allies have wielded significant influence in
shaping nuclear weapons cooperation with the US in ways that
reflect their own, often idiosyncratic, objectives. Alliances are
ecosystems of exchange rather than mere tools of external
balancing, the book argues, and institutional perspectives can
offer an unprecedented insight into how structured cooperation can
promote policy convergence. -- .
This book provides a rounded biography of Franz (later Sir Francis)
Simon, his early life in Germany, his move to Oxford in 1933, and
his experimental contributions to low temperature physics
approximating absolute zero. After 1939 he switched his research to
nuclear physics, and is credited with solving the problem of
uranium isotope separation by gaseous diffusion for the British
nuclear programme Tube Alloys. The volume is distinctive for its
inclusion of source materials not available to previous
researchers, such as Simon's diary and his correspondence with his
wife, and for a fresh, well-informed insider voice on the
five-power nuclear rivalry of the war years. The work also draws on
a relatively mature nuclear literature to attempt a comparison and
evaluation of the five nuclear rivals in wider political and
military context, and to identify the factors, or groups of
factors, that can explain the results.
This book examines the theory and practice of nuclear deterrence
between India and Pakistan, two highly antagonistic South Asian
neighbors who recently moved into their third decade of overt
nuclear weaponization. It assesses the stability of Indo-Pakistani
nuclear deterrence and argues that, while deterrence dampens the
likelihood of escalation to conventional-and possibly nuclear-war,
the chronically embittered relations between New Delhi and
Islamabad mean that deterrence failure resulting in major warfare
cannot be ruled out. Through an empirical examination of the
effects of nuclear weapons during five crises between India and
Pakistan since 1998, as well as a discussion of the theoretical
logic of Indo-Pakistani nuclear deterrence, the book offers
suggestions for enhancing deterrence stability between these two
countries.
The history of Pakistan's nuclear program is the history of
Pakistan. Fascinated with the new nuclear science, the young
nation's leaders launched a nuclear energy program in 1956 and
consciously interwove nuclear developments into the broader
narrative of Pakistani nationalism. Then, impelled first by the
1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan Wars, and more urgently by India's
first nuclear weapon test in 1974, Pakistani senior officials
tapped into the country's pool of young nuclear scientists and
engineers and molded them into a motivated cadre committed to
building the 'ultimate weapon.' The tenacity of this group and the
central place of its mission in Pakistan's national identity
allowed the program to outlast the perennial political crises of
the next 20 years, culminating in the test of a nuclear device in
1998. Written by a 30-year professional in the Pakistani Army who
played a senior role formulating and advocating Pakistan's security
policy on nuclear and conventional arms control, this book tells
the compelling story of how and why Pakistan's government,
scientists, and military, persevered in the face of a wide array of
obstacles to acquire nuclear weapons. It lays out the conditions
that sparked the shift from a peaceful quest to acquire nuclear
energy into a full-fledged weapons program, details how the nuclear
program was organized, reveals the role played by outside powers in
nuclear decisions, and explains how Pakistani scientists overcome
the many technical hurdles they encountered. Thanks to General
Khan's unique insider perspective, it unveils and unravels the
fascinating and turbulent interplay of personalities and
organizations that took place and reveals how international
opposition to the program only made it an even more significant
issue of national resolve. Listen to a podcast of a related
presentation by Feroz Khan at the Stanford Center for International
Security and Cooperation.
This book analyzes the United States and Russia's nuclear arms
control and deterrence relationships and how these countries must
lead current and prospective efforts to support future nuclear arms
control and nonproliferation. The second nuclear age, following the
end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union, poses new
challenges with respect to nuclear-strategic stability, deterrence
and nonproliferation. The spread of nuclear weapons in Asia, and
the potential for new nuclear weapons states in the Middle East,
create new possible axes of conflict potentially stressful to the
existing world order. Other uncertainties include the interest of
major powers in developing a wider spectrum of nuclear weapons and
delivery systems, possibly for use in limited nuclear wars, and the
competitive technologies for antimissile defenses being developed
and deployed by the United States and Russia. Other technology
challenges, including the implications of cyberwar for nuclear
deterrence and crisis management, are also considered. Political
changes also matter. The early post-Cold War hopes for the
emergence of a global pacific security community, excluding the
possibility of major war, have been dashed by political conflict
between Russia and NATO, by the roiled nature of American domestic
politics with respect to international security, and by a more
assertive and militarily competent China. Additionally, the study
includes suggestions for both analysis and policy in order to
prevent the renewed U.S.-Russian nuclear arms race and competition
in new technologies. This volume would be ideal for graduate
students, researchers, scholars and anyone who is interested in
nuclear policy, international studies, and Russian politics.
'Go nuclear' or 'go zero'--as the international community stands at
a nuclear crossroads, a number of questions demand urgent
attention: How do established and emerging nuclear-armed states
manage their nuclear affairs? Who commands and controls a country's
nuclear forces? What effect does the balance between secrecy and
openness have on larger questions of security and democracy?
Governing Nuclear Weapons is grounded in the belief that the
public's ability to hold nuclear-armed states accountable for the
security of their weapons is contingent on proper knowledge of
domestic nuclear governance. With a special emphasis on civilian
control and democratic accountability, it seeks to illuminate the
structures and processes of nuclear weapons governance of eight
nuclear-armed states: China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US, as
well as India, Israel, and Pakistan.
It examines the theoretical as well as practical functions and
structures of those who possess the power to make nuclear decisions
and those who have the practical means and physical opportunity to
execute those decisions. While the book assesses the whole spectrum
of political oversight and control mechanisms in operation for each
country--including the roles and requirements of the executive, the
military and specialized civilian institutions--it also takes a
closer look at parliamentary institutions and civil society at
large.
As nuclear terrorism, proliferation and disarmament vie for the top
slot on the global security agenda, a comparative understanding of
the various national nuclear discourses is no longer optional, but
required.
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