|
|
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Weapons & equipment > Nuclear weapons
Since the first atomic weapon was detonated in 1945, Canadians have
debated not only the role of nuclear power in their uranium-rich
land but also their country's role in a nuclear world. Should
Canada belong to international alliances that depend on the threat
of nuclear weapons for their own security? Should Canadian-produced
nuclear technologies be exported? What about the impact of atomic
research on local communities and the environment? This incisive
nuclear history engages with much larger debates about national
identity, Canadian foreign policy contradictions during the Cold
War, and Canada's global standing to investigate these critical
questions.
In South Asia, every state has applied its own classified security
measures for nuclear weapons security. In Pakistan, a nuclear
weapons security regime involves human, physical and technical
means. However, there is a general perception that, notwithstanding
these technical measures, there is a danger that nuclear materials
may possibly get into the hands of terrorist organisations. The
future of illicit trade of nuclear materials in South Asia by
non-state actors and terrorists may further jeopardise the security
of the region. South Asian states are facing the threat of
terrorism and violent extremism. The unending civil war in
Afghanistan and Pakistan has destabilised the whole region. These
are some of the issues deliberated in the book by eminent scholars.
This book discusses the danger of nuclear and biological terrorism
and the strategies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia based
extremist and jihadist groups to purchase fissile material in black
market or steal it from a military or civilian facility and then
use that material to construct an improvised nuclear device.
In To Kill Nations, Edward Kaplan traces the evolution of American
strategic airpower and preparation for nuclear war from this early
air-atomic era to a later period (1950-1965) in which the Soviet
Union's atomic capability, accelerated by thermonuclear weapons and
ballistic missiles, made American strategic assets vulnerable and
gradually undermined air-atomic strategy. Kaplan throws into
question both the inevitability and preferability of the strategic
doctrine of MAD. He looks at the process by which cultural,
institutional, and strategic ideas about MAD took shape and makes
insightful use of the comparison between generals who thought they
could win a nuclear war and the cold institutional logic of the
suicide pact that was MAD. Kaplan also offers a reappraisal of
Eisenhower's nuclear strategy and diplomacy to make a case for the
marginal viability of air-atomic military power even in an era of
ballistic missiles.
For every major military invention in human history, there has
quite always been a countervailing technology. Nuclear weapons
have, however, remained an exception. Ballistic missile defence
(BMD) has, in recent years, emerged as a formidable means to defend
against nuclear-armed delivery systems though yet to prove their
total reliability. What does the advent of BMD mean for the nuclear
revolution - will it make nuclear weapons obsolete or in turn lead
to a new arms race among great powers? This book is a concise
volume that examines these strategic dimensions of missile
defences, mainly its impact on deterrence. It promises thematic
variety by incorporating a technological survey that explains the
evolution of BMD concepts and also includes a case study of
Southern Asia that throws light on BMD dynamics in a volatile
region. The volume balances new conceptual inquests with policy
analysis that will make it useful literature on BMD for academics
and policymakers.
Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang's Nuclear North Korea was first
published in 2003 amid the outbreak of a lasting crisis over the
North Korean nuclear program. It promptly became a landmark of an
ongoing debate in academic and policy circles about whether to
engage or contain North Korea. Fifteen years later, as North Korea
tests intercontinental ballistic missiles and the U.S. president
angrily refers to Kim Jong-un as "Rocket Man," Nuclear North Korea
remains an essential guide to the difficult choices we face. Coming
from different perspectives-Kang believes the threat posed by
Pyongyang has been inflated and endorses a more open approach,
while Cha is more skeptical and advocates harsher measures, though
both believe that some form of engagement is necessary-the authors
together present authoritative analysis of one of the world's
thorniest challenges. They refute a number of misconceptions and
challenge the faulty thinking that surrounds the discussion of
North Korea, particularly the idea that North Korea is an
irrational actor. Cha and Kang look at the implications of a
nuclear North Korea, assess recent and current approaches to
sanctions and engagement, and provide a functional framework for
constructive policy. With a new chapter on the way forward for the
international community in light of continued nuclear tensions,
this book is of lasting relevance to understanding the state of
affairs on the Korean peninsula.
|
|