Nuclear Capabilities

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The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

Author : Brad Roberts
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804797153
Total Pages : 351 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century by : Brad Roberts

Download or read book The Case for U.S. Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century written by Brad Roberts and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2015-12-09 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An excellent contribution to the debate on the future role of nuclear weapons and nuclear deterrence in American foreign policy.” ―Contemporary Security Policy This book is a counter to the conventional wisdom that the United States can and should do more to reduce both the role of nuclear weapons in its security strategies and the number of weapons in its arsenal. The case against nuclear weapons has been made on many grounds—including historical, political, and moral. But, Brad Roberts argues, it has not so far been informed by the experience of the United States since the Cold War in trying to adapt deterrence to a changed world, and to create the conditions that would allow further significant changes to U.S. nuclear policy and posture. Drawing on the author’s experience in the making and implementation of U.S. policy in the Obama administration, this book examines that real-world experience and finds important lessons for the disarmament enterprise. Central conclusions of the work are that other nuclear-armed states are not prepared to join the United States in making reductions, and that unilateral steps by the United States to disarm further would be harmful to its interests and those of its allies. The book ultimately argues in favor of patience and persistence in the implementation of a balanced approach to nuclear strategy that encompasses political efforts to reduce nuclear dangers along with military efforts to deter them. “Well-researched and carefully argued.” ―Foreign Affairs

Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons

Author : Herbert Lin
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 1503630404
Total Pages : 206 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (36 download)

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Book Synopsis Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons by : Herbert Lin

Download or read book Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons written by Herbert Lin and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-19 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The technology controlling United States nuclear weapons predates the Internet. Updating the technology for the digital era is necessary, but it comes with the risk that anything digital can be hacked. Moreover, using new systems for both nuclear and non-nuclear operations will lead to levels of nuclear risk hardly imagined before. This book is the first to confront these risks comprehensively. With Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons, Herbert Lin provides a clear-eyed breakdown of the cyber risks to the U.S. nuclear enterprise. Featuring a series of scenarios that clarify the intersection of cyber and nuclear risk, this book guides readers through a little-understood element of the risk profile that government decision-makers should be anticipating. What might have happened if the Cuban Missile Crisis took place in the age of Twitter, with unvetted information swirling around? What if an adversary announced that malware had compromised nuclear systems, clouding the confidence of nuclear decision-makers? Cyber Threats and Nuclear Weapons, the first book to consider cyber risks across the entire nuclear enterprise, concludes with crucial advice on how government can manage the tensions between new nuclear capabilities and increasing cyber risk. This is an invaluable handbook for those ready to confront the unique challenges of cyber nuclear risk.

Seeking the Bomb

Author : Vipin Narang
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691172625
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (911 download)

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Book Synopsis Seeking the Bomb by : Vipin Narang

Download or read book Seeking the Bomb written by Vipin Narang and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first systematic look at the different strategies that states employ in their pursuit of nuclear weapons Much of the work on nuclear proliferation has focused on why states pursue nuclear weapons. The question of how states pursue nuclear weapons has received little attention. Seeking the Bomb is the first book to analyze this topic by examining which strategies of nuclear proliferation are available to aspirants, why aspirants select one strategy over another, and how this matters to international politics. Looking at a wide range of nations, from India and Japan to the Soviet Union and North Korea to Iraq and Iran, Vipin Narang develops an original typology of proliferation strategies—hedging, sprinting, sheltered pursuit, and hiding. Each strategy of proliferation provides different opportunities for the development of nuclear weapons, while at the same time presenting distinct vulnerabilities that can be exploited to prevent states from doing so. Narang delves into the crucial implications these strategies have for nuclear proliferation and international security. Hiders, for example, are especially disruptive since either they successfully attain nuclear weapons, irrevocably altering the global power structure, or they are discovered, potentially triggering serious crises or war, as external powers try to halt or reverse a previously clandestine nuclear weapons program. As the international community confronts the next generation of potential nuclear proliferators, Seeking the Bomb explores how global conflict and stability are shaped by the ruthlessly pragmatic ways states choose strategies of proliferation.

The Tradition of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons

Author : T.V. Paul
Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804771006
Total Pages : 453 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis The Tradition of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons by : T.V. Paul

Download or read book The Tradition of Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons written by T.V. Paul and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2009-01-23 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks, no state has unleashed nuclear weapons. What explains this? According to the author, the answer lies in a prohibition inherent in the tradition of non-use, a time-honored obligation that has been adhered to by all nuclear states—thanks to a consensus view that use would have a catastrophic impact on humankind, the environment, and the reputation of the user. The book offers an in-depth analysis of the nuclear policies of the U.S., Russia, China, the UK, France, India, Israel, and Pakistan and assesses the contributions of these states to the rise and persistence of the tradition of nuclear non-use. It examines the influence of the tradition on the behavior of nuclear and non-nuclear states in crises and wars, and explores the tradition's implications for nuclear non-proliferation regimes, deterrence theory, and policy. And it concludes by discussing the future of the tradition in the current global security environment.

Nuclear Weapons Technology 101 for Policy Wonks

Author : Bruce Goodwin
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781952565113
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (651 download)

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Book Synopsis Nuclear Weapons Technology 101 for Policy Wonks by : Bruce Goodwin

Download or read book Nuclear Weapons Technology 101 for Policy Wonks written by Bruce Goodwin and published by . This book was released on 2021-05 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The making of policy for nuclear security requires a strong grasp of the associated technical matters. That grasp came naturally in the early decades of the nuclear era, when scientists and engineers were deeply engaged in policymaking. In more recent decades, the technical community has played a narrower role, one generally limited to implementing policies made by others. This narrower role has been accentuated by generational change in the technical community, as the scientists and engineers who conceived, built, and executed the programs that created the existing U.S. nuclear deterrent faded into history along with the long-term competition for technical improvements with the Soviet Union. There is thus today a clear need to impart to the new generation of nuclear policy experts the necessary technical context.That is the purpose of this paper. Specifically: to introduce a new generation of nuclear policy experts to the technical perspectives of a nuclear weapon designer, to explain the science and engineering of nuclear weapons for the policy generalist, to review the evolution of the U.S. approach to nuclear weapons design, to explain the main attributes of the existing U.S. nuclear stockpile, to explain the functions of the nuclear weapons complex, and how this all is integrated to sustain deterrence into the future.

Alliances, Nuclear Weapons and Escalation

Author : Stephan Frühling
Publisher : ANU Press
ISBN 13 : 1760464910
Total Pages : 234 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (64 download)

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Book Synopsis Alliances, Nuclear Weapons and Escalation by : Stephan Frühling

Download or read book Alliances, Nuclear Weapons and Escalation written by Stephan Frühling and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an era of great power competition, the role of alliances in managing escalation of conflict has acquired renewed importance. Nuclear weapons remain the ultimate means for deterrence and controlling escalation, and are central to US alliances in Europe and the Indo-Pacific. However, allies themselves need to better prepare for managing escalation in an increasingly challenging geostrategic and technological environment for the US and its allies. While the challenge of great power competition is acute at both ends of Eurasia, adversary threats, geography and the institutional context of US alliances differ. This book brings together leading experts from Europe, Northeast Asia, the United States and Australia to focus on these challenges, identify commonalities and differences across regions, and pinpoint ways to collectively manage nuclear deterrence and potential escalation pathways in America’s 21st century alliances. ‘Nuclear weapons play an important role in deterrence and preventing military conflict between great powers, while also posing an existential threat to humanity. It is vital that we have a nuanced understanding of this important challenge, so that such weapons are never used. This book offers many important perspectives and makes a significant contribution to the overall debate about these powerful weapons.’ — The Hon Julie Bishop, Chancellor, The Australian National University, Former Foreign Minister of Australia ‘This timely book identifies a wide range of challenges US alliances both in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic face as they seek to ensure the value of US extended deterrence, particular the US nuclear umbrella, against China and Russia. This unique collection of chapters written by experts in US allies in both regions presents widely varying security perceptions and priorities. To understand such differences is the key to globally strengthen the US alliance systems, which are a significant advantage Washington enjoys over the two competitors.’ — Yukio Satoh, former President of The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) ‘This is a timely and thoughtful collection of essays that should serve to jumpstart public discussion and debate—the absence of which is widely noted and much bemoaned. Each contributor examines an aspect of the complicated, multifaceted nuclear debate by discussing the range of dilemmas from deterrence to disarmament. The various views set out here are more relevant than ever as Russia, China and the United States flex their nuclear muscles in new and sometimes dangerous ways. This book should be read by anyone interested in the preventing the use of nuclear weapons and understanding complexities of alliances in an increasingly dangerous world.’ — Madelyn Creedon, former Principal Deputy Administrator of the US National Nuclear Security Administration and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs

Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Explosive Materials

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309181216
Total Pages : 266 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Explosive Materials by : National Research Council

Download or read book Monitoring Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear-Explosive Materials written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-04-15 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study, CISAC tackles the technical dimensions of a longstanding controversy: To what extent could existing and plausibly attainable measures for transparency and monitoring make possible the verification of all nuclear weaponsâ€"strategic and nonstrategic, deployed and nondeployedâ€"plus the nuclear-explosive components and materials that are their essential ingredients? The committee's assessment of the technical and organizational possibilities suggests a more optimistic conclusion than most of those concerned with these issues might have expected.

Iran's Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons

Author : David Albright
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 502 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Iran's Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons by : David Albright

Download or read book Iran's Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons written by David Albright and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Institute of Science and International Security’s new book Iran’s Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons chronicles the Islamic Republic of Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons. The book draws from original Iranian documents seized by Israel’s Mossad in 2018 in a dramatic overnight raid in Tehran. The “Nuclear Archive” allows deep insight into the country’s effort to secretly build nuclear weapons. The book relies on unprecedented access to archive documents, many translated by the Institute into English for the first time. The first part of the book concentrates on Iran’s crash nuclear weapons program in the early 2000s to build five nuclear weapons and an industrial complex to produce many more. By 2003, responding to growing pressure from European powers to freeze its publicly known nuclear programs and fearing a possible U.S. military attack, Iran’s leaders decided to downsize, but not stop, their secret nuclear weapons effort. The second part of the book discusses Iran’s nuclear path post-2003, revealing a careful plan to continue nuclear weapons work, overcome bottlenecks and better camouflage nuclear weapons development activities. Since 2003, the Islamic Republic’s nuclear scientists and weaponeers have concentrated on establishing capabilities to make weapon-grade uranium and developing more reliable, longer-range ballistic missiles."--Publisher description.

Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309096731
Total Pages : 146 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons by : National Research Council

Download or read book Effects of Nuclear Earth-Penetrator and Other Weapons written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-10-06 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Underground facilities are used extensively by many nations to conceal and protect strategic military functions and weapons' stockpiles. Because of their depth and hardened status, however, many of these strategic hard and deeply buried targets could only be put at risk by conventional or nuclear earth penetrating weapons (EPW). Recently, an engineering feasibility study, the robust nuclear earth penetrator program, was started by DOE and DOD to determine if a more effective EPW could be designed using major components of existing nuclear weapons. This activity has created some controversy about, among other things, the level of collateral damage that would ensue if such a weapon were used. To help clarify this issue, the Congress, in P.L. 107-314, directed the Secretary of Defense to request from the NRC a study of the anticipated health and environmental effects of nuclear earth-penetrators and other weapons and the effect of both conventional and nuclear weapons against the storage of biological and chemical weapons. This report provides the results of those analyses. Based on detailed numerical calculations, the report presents a series of findings comparing the effectiveness and expected collateral damage of nuclear EPW and surface nuclear weapons under a variety of conditions.

Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program

Author : Andrea Stricker
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781727337334
Total Pages : 254 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (373 download)

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Book Synopsis Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program by : Andrea Stricker

Download or read book Taiwan's Former Nuclear Weapons Program written by Andrea Stricker and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-11-14 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirty years ago, in 1988, the United States secretly moved to end once and for all Taiwan's nuclear weapons program, just as it was nearing the point of being able to rapidly break out to build nuclear weapons. Because intense secrecy has followed Taiwan's nuclear weapons program and its demise, this book is the first account of that program's history and dismantlement. Taiwan's nuclear weapons program made more progress and was working on much more sophisticated nuclear weapons than publicly recognized. It came dangerously close to fruition. Taipei excelled at the misuse of civilian nuclear programs to seek nuclear weapons and implemented capabilities to significantly reduce the time needed to build them, following a decision to do so. Despite Taiwan's efforts to hide these activities, the United States was able to gather incriminating evidence that allowed it to act, effectively denuclearizing a dangerous, destabilizing program, that if left unchecked, could have set up a potentially disastrous confrontation with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Taiwan case is rich in findings for addressing today's nuclear proliferation challenges.

The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy

Author : Committee on International Security and Arms Control
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309518377
Total Pages : 119 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy by : Committee on International Security and Arms Control

Download or read book The Future of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy written by Committee on International Security and Arms Control and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1997-07-01 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate about appropriate purposes and policies for U.S. nuclear weapons has been under way since the beginning of the nuclear age. With the end of the Cold War, the debate has entered a new phase, propelled by the post-Cold War transformations of the international political landscape. This volume--based on an exhaustive reexamination of issues addressed in The Future of the U.S.-Soviet Nuclear Relationship (NRC, 1991)--describes the state to which U.S. and Russian nuclear forces and policies have evolved since the Cold War ended. The book evaluates a regime of progressive constraints for future U.S. nuclear weapons policy that includes further reductions in nuclear forces, changes in nuclear operations to preserve deterrence but enhance operational safety, and measures to help prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons. In addition, it examines the conditions and means by which comprehensive nuclear disarmament could become feasible and desirable.

Command and Control

Author : Eric Schlosser
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101638664
Total Pages : 702 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Command and Control by : Eric Schlosser

Download or read book Command and Control written by Eric Schlosser and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-09-17 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Command and Control, directed by Robert Kenner, finds its origins in Eric Schlosser's book and continues to explore the little-known history of the management and safety concerns of America's nuclear aresenal. “A devastatingly lucid and detailed new history of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Fascinating.” —Lev Grossman, TIME Magazine “Perilous and gripping . . . Schlosser skillfully weaves together an engrossing account of both the science and the politics of nuclear weapons safety.” —San Francisco Chronicle A myth-shattering exposé of America’s nuclear weapons Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America’s nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved—and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind. While the harms of global warming increasingly dominate the news, the equally dangerous yet more immediate threat of nuclear weapons has been largely forgotten. Written with the vibrancy of a first-rate thriller, Command and Control interweaves the minute-by-minute story of an accident at a nuclear missile silo in rural Arkansas with a historical narrative that spans more than fifty years. It depicts the urgent effort by American scientists, policy makers, and military officers to ensure that nuclear weapons can’t be stolen, sabotaged, used without permission, or detonated inadvertently. Schlosser also looks at the Cold War from a new perspective, offering history from the ground up, telling the stories of bomber pilots, missile commanders, maintenance crews, and other ordinary servicemen who risked their lives to avert a nuclear holocaust. At the heart of the book lies the struggle, amid the rolling hills and small farms of Damascus, Arkansas, to prevent the explosion of a ballistic missile carrying the most powerful nuclear warhead ever built by the United States. Drawing on recently declassified documents and interviews with people who designed and routinely handled nuclear weapons, Command and Control takes readers into a terrifying but fascinating world that, until now, has been largely hidden from view. Through the details of a single accident, Schlosser illustrates how an unlikely event can become unavoidable, how small risks can have terrible consequences, and how the most brilliant minds in the nation can only provide us with an illusion of control. Audacious, gripping, and unforgettable, Command and Control is a tour de force of investigative journalism, an eye-opening look at the dangers of America’s nuclear age.

Bridled Ambition

Author : Mitchell Reiss
Publisher : Woodrow Wilson Center Press
ISBN 13 : 9780943875712
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (757 download)

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Book Synopsis Bridled Ambition by : Mitchell Reiss

Download or read book Bridled Ambition written by Mitchell Reiss and published by Woodrow Wilson Center Press. This book was released on 1995-04 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: But in general, Reiss suggests, nuclear weapons may have come to be viewed as expensive and dangerous anachronisms.

A Perpetual Menace

Author : William Walker
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136594639
Total Pages : 291 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (365 download)

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Book Synopsis A Perpetual Menace by : William Walker

Download or read book A Perpetual Menace written by William Walker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-09-14 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a leading scholar in the field of nuclear weapons and international relations, this book examines ‘the problem of order’ arising from the existence of weapons of mass destruction. This central problem of international order has its origins in the nineteenth century, when industrialization and the emergence of new sciences, technologies and administrative capabilities greatly expanded states’ abilities to inflict injury, ushering in the era of total war. It became acute in the mid-twentieth century, with the invention of the atomic bomb and the pre-eminent role ascribed to nuclear weapons during the Cold War. It became more complex after the end of the Cold War, as power structures shifted, new insecurities emerged, prior ordering strategies were called into question, and as technologies relevant to weapons of mass destruction became more accessible to non-state actors as well as states. William Walker explores how this problem is conceived by influential actors, how they have tried to fashion solutions in the face of many predicaments, and why those solutions have been deemed effective and ineffective, legitimate and illegitimate, in various times and contexts.

The Spread of Nuclear Weapons

Author : Scott Douglas Sagan
Publisher : W. W. Norton
ISBN 13 : 9780393967166
Total Pages : 160 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (671 download)

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Book Synopsis The Spread of Nuclear Weapons by : Scott Douglas Sagan

Download or read book The Spread of Nuclear Weapons written by Scott Douglas Sagan and published by W. W. Norton. This book was released on 1995 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two scholars of international politcs debate the issue of nuclear proliferation beyond the superpowers, presenting arguments for "more will be better" and "more will be worse"

Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?

Author : Brian Michael Jenkins
Publisher : Prometheus Books
ISBN 13 : 1615920366
Total Pages : 463 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (159 download)

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Book Synopsis Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? by : Brian Michael Jenkins

Download or read book Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? written by Brian Michael Jenkins and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2009-12-02 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than 30 years Jenkins has been advising the military, government, and prestigious think tanks on the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Now he goes beyond what the experts know to examine how terrorists themselves think about such weapons.

Nuclear Weapons under International Law

Author : Gro Nystuen
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139992740
Total Pages : 804 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (399 download)

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Book Synopsis Nuclear Weapons under International Law by : Gro Nystuen

Download or read book Nuclear Weapons under International Law written by Gro Nystuen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2014-08-28 with total page 804 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nuclear Weapons under International Law is a comprehensive treatment of nuclear weapons under key international law regimes. It critically reviews international law governing nuclear weapons with regard to the inter-state use of force, international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament law, and environmental law, and discusses where relevant the International Court of Justice's 1996 Advisory Opinion. Unique in its approach, it draws upon contributions from expert legal scholars and international law practitioners who have worked with conventional and non-conventional arms control and disarmament issues. As a result, this book embraces academic consideration of legal questions within the context of broader political debates about the status of nuclear weapons under international law.