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Palgrave Macmillan

The Consequences of American Nuclear Disarmament

Strategy and Nuclear Weapons

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Christine M. Leah

    1. Yale University, New Haven, USA

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  • Critically analyzes arguments for nuclear reductions and the total elimination of nuclear weapons in light of deterrence strategy and US and Western thinking about strategic concepts
  • Surveys the history of deterrence theory and implementation starting at the early 20th century and going past the end of the Cold War
  • Provides a political history of nuclear weapons and their role in important US alliances in the Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Part of the book series: American Foreign Policy in the 21st Century (AMP21C)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Nuclear Weapons: A Piece of the Peace

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 1-18

  3. Deterrence Without Nuclear Weapons?

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 19-52

  4. Deterrence Without Nuclear Warheads?

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 53-66

  5. Alliances Without Nuclear Weapons? (I)

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 67-84

  6. Alliances Without Nuclear Weapons? (II): The Case of the Asia-Pacific

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 85-107

  7. Arms Control Without Nuclear Weapons?

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 109-147

  8. Disarming the Peace?

    • Christine M. Leah
    Pages 149-214

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 215-252
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Keywords

About this book

This book is about the future of nuclear weapons, geopolitics, and strategy. It examines the legacy of nuclear weapons on US thinking about some concepts of strategy and geopolitics, namely deterrence, extended deterrence, alliances, and arms control. The purpose of this is to demonstrate just how fundamentally nuclear weapons have influenced American thinking about these concepts. It argues that, given the extent of nuclear weapons' influence on these concepts and the implications for international security, further reductions beyond current Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) levels, and the more absolute idea of nuclear disarmament, may not necessarily be prudent ideas. Nuclear weapons have contributed to the avoidance of major war between states, made alliances more credible and last longer, and have made arms control relatively easier to conceptualize and manage. As such, the author argues, these concepts may become even more difficult to manage in a world where nuclear weaponsare marginalized.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Yale University, New Haven, USA

    Christine M. Leah

About the author

Christine M. Leah is a former Chauncey Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University, USA. She was previously a Stanton Postdoctoral Fellow in Nuclear Security at MIT, USA. She completed her PhD at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University. She is the author of Australia and the Bomb (2014).

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