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Atomic anxiety : deterrence, taboo and the non-use of U.S. nuclear weapons /

"Centering on the concept of 'Atomic Anxiety, ' this study offers a novel perspective on one of the most important and longstanding puzzles of international politics: the non-use of U.S. nuclear weapons. It explains how emotion is at the heart of nuclear non-use, and explores the intr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sauer, Frank (Author)
Published: Palgrave Macmillan,
Publisher Address: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire :
Publication Dates: 2016.
Literature type: Book
Language: English
Subjects:
Nuclear weapons > Government policy > United States.
Nuclear weapons > Social aspects > United States.
Nuclear weapons > United States > Psychological aspects.
No first use (Nuclear strategy)
Deterrence (Strategy)
Anxiety > Political aspects > United States.
Taboo > Political aspects > United States.
United States > Military policy.
United States > Military policy > Decision making.
Summary: "Centering on the concept of 'Atomic Anxiety, ' this study offers a novel perspective on one of the most important and longstanding puzzles of international politics: the non-use of U.S. nuclear weapons. It explains how emotion is at the heart of nuclear non-use, and explores the intricate interplay of the two most prominent mechanisms said to cause nuclear non-use in particular: nuclear deterrence and the nuclear taboo. Overturning conventional wisdom, Dr. Sauer demonstrates that nuclear deterrence and the nuclear taboo are working at cross purposes by asserting that the taboo is not stabilizing but hampering deterrence praxis. Additionally, this study identifies fear as the key precondition for both these mechanisms, a factor that has been overlooked and under-appreciated thus far. This comprehensive and theoretically sophisticated study will be of great interest to scholars of Security Studies and International Relations"--
Carrier Form: vii, 207 pages ; 23 cm
Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (pages 188-204) and index.
ISBN: 9781137533739 (hardback) :
1137533730 (hardback)
Index Number: UA23
CLC: E928-017.12
Call Number: E928-017.12/S255
Contents: 1. Introduction: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Puzzling Non-use of U.S. Nuclear Weapons after 1945 -- 2. Explaining Nuclear Non-use : Nuclear Deterrence, the Nuclear Taboo, the Tradition of Non-use and Identifying Causal Factors -- 3. Understanding Nuclear Non-use : Focusing on Meaning, Language and Agency -- 4. Revisiting Nuclear Non-use : The Cuban Missile Crisis, Presidential Language and the Study of Atomic Anxiety as a Key Emotion in International Politics -- 5. Conclusion: The Danger of Complacency in Nuclear Policy-making.

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