Nuclear designs : Great Britain, France, & China in the global governance of nuclear arms / Bruce D. Larkin

By: Language: English Publication details: New Brunswick (U.S.A.) : Transaction, c1996Description: xvii, 354 p. ; 23 cmISBN:
  • 1560002395 (alk. paper)
Subject(s):
Contents:
1. Nuclear Choices -- 2. Nuclear Programs -- 3. Test Ban and Non-Proliferation Regimes -- 4. Reducing Inventories -- 5. Coordinations -- 6. Verification and Transparency -- 7. National Structures and Civil Society -- 8. Costs and Risks -- 9. Threats and Fears -- 10. Conclusions.
Summary: Global politics has changed with unaccustomed swiftness since the end of the Cold War. Eastern Europe is free; the Soviet Union has broken up; China presses free market economic reform; and the United States and Russia have declared a joint commitment to end nuclear war. In Israel, Pakistan, India, North Korea, Iraq, and Iran nuclear intentions are subject to widespread speculation and scrutiny. Negotiations for renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty remind us that the treaty requires serious efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. Nuclear Designs points out that the Cold War's end has not banished mistrust. Instead, it has opened the door to frank conversation about the usefulness of force and the need to address common fears. This study focuses on the nuclear weapons programs of Great Britain, China, and France, because they may be less familiar to students of international affairs. Each of these countries has developed a substantial nuclear capability that could decisively shape the result of coming global nuclear decisions. Larkin concludes that these three minipowers could conclude that nuclearism serves their interests, refuse disengagement, and encourage proliferation. If they are prepared to abandon nuclearism, they have tremendous political leverage on Russia, the United States, and also on undeclared and aspiring nuclear weapons states. Nuclear Designs asserts that governments, politics, and parties today do not know how to guarantee themselves against weapons of mass destruction. They must either acquire the political and social means to achieve such guarantees or accept a world in which nuclearism will continue to cast its shadow over all aspects of nation building. It will be of interest to political scientists, policy-makers, military analysts, and those interested in the nuclear issue.
Item type: monograph
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Holdings
Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
SIPRI Library and Documentation 623.454.8 Larkin Available G12/570

SIP1208.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Nuclear Choices -- 2. Nuclear Programs -- 3. Test Ban and Non-Proliferation Regimes -- 4. Reducing Inventories -- 5. Coordinations -- 6. Verification and Transparency -- 7. National Structures and Civil Society -- 8. Costs and Risks -- 9. Threats and Fears -- 10. Conclusions.

Global politics has changed with unaccustomed swiftness since the end of the Cold War. Eastern Europe is free; the Soviet Union has broken up; China presses free market economic reform; and the United States and Russia have declared a joint commitment to end nuclear war. In Israel, Pakistan, India, North Korea, Iraq, and Iran nuclear intentions are subject to widespread speculation and scrutiny. Negotiations for renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty remind us that the treaty requires serious efforts to abolish nuclear weapons. Nuclear Designs points out that the Cold War's end has not banished mistrust. Instead, it has opened the door to frank conversation about the usefulness of force and the need to address common fears. This study focuses on the nuclear weapons programs of Great Britain, China, and France, because they may be less familiar to students of international affairs. Each of these countries has developed a substantial nuclear capability that could decisively shape the result of coming global nuclear decisions. Larkin concludes that these three minipowers could conclude that nuclearism serves their interests, refuse disengagement, and encourage proliferation. If they are prepared to abandon nuclearism, they have tremendous political leverage on Russia, the United States, and also on undeclared and aspiring nuclear weapons states. Nuclear Designs asserts that governments, politics, and parties today do not know how to guarantee themselves against weapons of mass destruction. They must either acquire the political and social means to achieve such guarantees or accept a world in which nuclearism will continue to cast its shadow over all aspects of nation building. It will be of interest to political scientists, policy-makers, military analysts, and those interested in the nuclear issue.

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