Return to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1981-1999

by Ronald E. Powaski

Overview

When the Cold War ended, the world let out a collective sigh of relief as the fear of nuclear confrontation between superpowers appeared to vanish overnight. As we approach the new millennium, however, the proliferation of nuclear weapons to ever more belligerent countries and factions raises alarming new concerns about the threat of nuclear war. In Return to Armageddon, Ronald Powaski assesses the dangers that beset us as we enter an increasingly unstable political world. With the START I and II treaties, completed by George Bush in 1991 and 1993 respectively, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), signed by Bill Clinton in 1996, it seemed as if the nuclear clock had been successfully turned back to a safer hour. But Powaski shows that there is much less reason for optimism than we may like to think. Continued U.S.-Russian cooperation can no longer be assured. To make matters worse, Russia has not ratified the START II Treaty and the U.S. Senate has failed to approve the CTBT. Perhaps even more ominously, the effort to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by nonweapon states is threatened by nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan. The nuclear club is growing and its most recent members are increasingly hostile. Indeed, it is becoming ever more difficult to keep track of the expertise and material needed to build nuclear weapons, which almost certainly will find their way into terrorist hands. Accessible, authoritative, and provocative, Return to Armageddon provides both a comprehensive account of the arms control process and a startling reappraisal of the nuclear threat that refuses to go away.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190289676
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/20/2003
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	476 KB

About the Author

Ronald Powaski is the author of The Cold War: The U.S. and the Soviet Union, 1917-1991 and March to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939-1987, both by OUP. He is an adjunct professor of history at Cleveland State University. He lives in Euclid, Ohio.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Introduction: The Nuclear Arms Race, 1939-1981	3
1	The Reagan Nuclear Buildup	14
2	The Reagan About-Face	39
3	Bush and Start I	83
4	Bush and Start II	128
5	Clinton, Start II, and the ABM Treaty	165
6	Clinton and Counterproliferation	205
	Conclusion: The Enduring Nuclear Threat	251
	Afterword	259
	Acronyms and Technical Terms	273
	Notes	277
	Suggested Readings	297
	Index	301

Editorial Reviews

The sequel to Powaski's March to Armageddon (Oxford, 1987), this book follows the progress toward U.S.-Soviet arms control during the three most recent U.S. administrations. Based on U.S. documents, newspapers, and memoirs of key figures, the book dissects the negotiations as they occurred, emphasizing the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the Strategic Arms Reduction treaties, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Powaski also considers other events that affected arms control, including domestic politics on both sides and the horizontal spread of nuclear weapons to other states. Although the two nuclear superpowers have made clear progress in cutting nuclear stockpiles, the author remains wary of the nuclear intentions of other states and the potential threat from terrorist groups. Useful for informed readers; recommended for academic libraries.--Marcia L. Sprules, Council on Foreign Relations Lib., New York Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"An exhaustive yet engrossing account of two decades of effort to control the nuclear menace. The author details a painful process, buoyed by an occasional breakthrough—the elimination of intermediate range nuclear missiles under President Reagan and the substantial cut in tactical nuclear weapons under President Bush—but effectively blocked in the Clinton years by hostile Senate leadership and infatuation with the myth of missile defense."—Paul C. Warnke, former Director of U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

"This compact volume identifies the key themes and turning points in U.S. nuclear weapon and nuclear arms control policy over the past two decades, giving timely insight into the decisions that have kept the nuclear 'fate of the earth' hanging in the balance. A good source for students and journalists, and a fast-reading, illuminating history for any concerned citizen."—Randall Forsberg, Director, Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies

"An accomplished historian of the nuclear arms race in its early years, Ronald Powaski has produced a thorough, up-to-date, and well-written study of the nuclear arms race during the last two decades of the twentieth century. He cogently analyzes U.S. policy in the 1980s and 1990s and assesses the risks of nuclear catastrophe in the coming years."—Peter L. Hahn, Ohio State University

From the Publisher