History of U.S. Nuclear Testing and Its Influence on Nuclear Thought, 1945–1963
Product details
Biographical note
David M. Blades, PhD, is a researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne.
Joseph M. Siracusa is professor of human security and international diplomacy and deputy dean of global studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia. Chicago-born and raised, he is the author and coauthor of many books, including Real-World Nuclear Deterrence: The Making of International Strategy (with David G. Coleman); Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction; and A Global History of the Nuclear Arms Race: Weapons, Strategy, and Politics (with Richard Dean Burns).
[The authors] effectively show the differing purposes of and attitudes toward testing that prevailed during the administrations of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy. . . .Blades and Siracusa’s book is a useful guide to nuclear testing during a crucial period of the Cold War and the arms race.
Journal of American History
Nuclear weapons have not been used in war since the United States dropped atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. Since that time, however, there have been over 1,900 nuclear tests. What was the purpose and consequences of nuclear testing on national and international security? In this engaging and deeply researched book, David Blades and Joseph Siracusa explore how nuclear testing influenced nuclear thinking in the United States. While recognizing the horror of these weapons and the dangerous effects of testing, the authors reveal how these tests had an enormous influence, not simply on how the weapons and their delivery systems were developed, but also on the strategies for their use. This is an important book, absolutely required reading for anyone interested in how testing affected our policies, strategies, and thinking about nuclear weapons.
- Francis J. Gavin, Frank Stanton Chair in Nuclear Security Policy Studies, MIT,
Preface
Chapter One: Truman, 1945-1952
Chapter Two: The Normalisation of Nuclear Testing
Chapter Three: Eisenhower, 1952-1958
Chapter Four: The Expansion and then Suspension of Nuclear Testing
Chapter Five: Kennedy, 1961-1963
Chapter Six: The Limitation of Nuclear Testing
Conclusion
Bibliography
This series focuses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) (nuclear, chemical, radiological, biological) and the consequences or threats deriving from the advent of new and emerging technologies (AI, cyber, autonomous weapons, drones, and a range of others). The series welcomes a variety historical, contemporary, traditional, and non-traditional approaches from emerging scholars, established academics and/or those involved in the IR, foreign policy, and security domains. The series seeks to attain assessments that unpack the concerns and complexities deriving from nuclear weapons and the other WMD variants. Clearly, today, more states in more unstable regions have attained such weapons, terrorists continue to pursue them, and the command and control systems in even the most sophisticated states remain susceptible not only to system and human error but, increasingly, to cyber-attacks. The failure of armed states to disarm, the inability to prevent new states and non-state actors from gaining access to WMDs, and the expansion of nuclear energy plants present a real security danger. All views across the disarmament, non-proliferation, arms control and deterrence spectrum in addressing such concerns are welcome. The series also extends its reach and engagement with the emergence of new technologies in the context of global security, including: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), such as drones; and the advent of Lethally Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) which raise ethical questions about the use (and misuse) of military power. Additionally, other emergent technologies contributing to the complexity of security dynamics including 3D printing, nanotechnology and quantum computing, bioengineering, and digitisation technologies are also explored. The contribution of the volumes in the series are timely and necessary. International Advisory Board:Philip Baxter, Center for Policy Research at the University of Albany, SUNYElisabeth Röhrlich, University of ViennaSarah Kreps, Cornell UniversityReuben Steff, University of WaikatoJulia Macdonald, University of Denver
Series Editors: Aiden Warren and Joseph M. Siracusa
Product details
Biographical note
David M. Blades, PhD, is a researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Melbourne.
Joseph M. Siracusa is professor of human security and international diplomacy and deputy dean of global studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia. Chicago-born and raised, he is the author and coauthor of many books, including Real-World Nuclear Deterrence: The Making of International Strategy (with David G. Coleman); Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction; and A Global History of the Nuclear Arms Race: Weapons, Strategy, and Politics (with Richard Dean Burns).