Nuclear Apartheid - The Quest for American Atomic Supremacy from World War II to the Present (2010)

After World War II, an atomic hierarchy emerged in the noncommunist world. Washington was at the top, followed over time by its NATO allies and then Israel, with the postcolonial world completely shut out. An Indian diplomat called the system "nuclear apartheid."Drawing on recently declassified sources from U.S. and international archives, Shane Maddock offers the first full-length study of nuclear apartheid, casting a spotlight on an ideological outlook that nurtured atomic inequality and established the United States--in its own mind--as the most legitimate nuclear power. Beginning with the discovery of fission in 1939 and ending with George W. Bush's nuclear policy and his preoccupation with the "axis of evil," Maddock uncovers the deeply ideological underpinnings of U.S. nuclear policy--an ideology based on American exceptionalism, irrational faith in the power of technology, and racial and gender stereotypes. The unintended result of the nuclear exclusion of nations such as North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran is, increasingly, rebellion. Here is an illuminating look at how an American nuclear policy based on misguided ideological beliefs has unintentionally paved the way for an international "wild west" of nuclear development, dramatically undercutting the goal of nuclear containment and diminishing U.S. influence in the world.After World War II, an atomic hierarchy emerged in the noncommunist world. Washington was at the top, followed over time by its NATO allies and then Israel, with the postcolonial world completely shut out. An Indian diplomat called the system "nuclear apartheid."

After World War II, an atomic hierarchy emerged in the noncommunist world. Washington was at the top, followed over time by its NATO allies and then Israel, with the postcolonial world completely shut out. An Indian diplomat called the system nuclear apartheid.

Drawing on recently declassified sources from U.S. and international archives, Shane Maddock offers the first full-length study of nuclear apartheid, casting a spotlight on an ideological outlook that nurtured atomic inequality and established the United States-in its own mind-as the most legitimate nuclear power. Beginning with the discovery of fission in 1939 and ending with George W. Bush's nuclear policy and his preoccupation with the axis of evil, Maddock uncovers the deeply ideological underpinnings of U.S. nuclear policy-an ideology based on American exceptionalism, irrational faith in the power of technology, and racial and gender stereotypes. The unintended result of the nuclear exclusion of nations such as North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran is, increasingly, rebellion.

Here is an illuminating look at how an American nuclear policy based on misguided ideological beliefs has unintentionally paved the way for an international wild west of nuclear development, dramatically undercutting the goal of nuclear containment and diminishing U.S. influence in the world.
After World War II, an atomic hierarchy emerged in the noncommunist world. Washington was at the top, followed over time by its NATO allies and then Israel, with the postcolonial world completely shut out. An Indian diplomat called the system nuclear apartheid.

Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 16 1 The Ideal Number of Nuclear Weapons States Is One: Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Quest for American Atomic Supremacy......Page 20 2 Too Stupid Even for the Funny Papers: The Myth of the American Atomic Monopoly, 1939–1945......Page 30 3 Winning Weapons: A-Bombs, H-Bombs, and International Control, 1946–1953......Page 66 4 The President in the Gray Flannel Suit: Conformity, Technological Utopianism, and Nonproliferation, 1953–1956......Page 100 5 Seeking a Silver Bullet: Nonproliferation, the Test Ban, and Nuclear Sharing, 1957–1960......Page 134 6 Tests and Toughness: JFK’s False Start on the Proliferation Question, 1961–1962......Page 164 7 Too Big to Spank: JFK, Nuclear Hegemony, and the Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1962–1963......Page 200 8 Hunting for Easter Eggs: LBJ, NATO, and Nonproliferation, 1963–1965......Page 236 9 A Treaty to Castrate the Impotent: Codifying Nuclear Apartheid, 1965–1970......Page 270 10 The Legacy of Nuclear Apartheid......Page 304 Notes......Page 320 Bibliography......Page 368 A......Page 386 B......Page 388 C......Page 389 D......Page 391 E......Page 392 F......Page 393 G......Page 394 I......Page 395 K......Page 397 L......Page 398 M......Page 399 N......Page 400 P......Page 403 R......Page 404 S......Page 405 T......Page 408 U......Page 409 W......Page 410 Z......Page 411 After World War II, an atomic hierarchy emerged in the noncommunist world. Washington was at the top, followed over time by its NATO allies and then Israel, with the postcolonial world completely shut out. An Indian diplomat called the system "nuclear apartheid." Drawing on recently declassified sources from U.S. and international archives, Shane Maddock offers the first full-length study of nuclear apartheid, casting a spotlight on an ideological outlook that nurtured atomic inequality and established the United States--in its own mind--as the most legitimate nuclear power. Beginning with the discovery of fission in 1939 and ending with George W. Bush's nuclear policy and his preoccupation with the "axis of evil," Maddock uncovers the deeply ideological underpinnings of U.S. nuclear policy--an ideology based on American exceptionalism, irrational faith in the power of technology, and racial and gender stereotypes. The unintended result of the nuclear exclusion of nations such as North Korea, Pakistan, and Iran is, increasingly, rebellion. Here is an illuminating look at how an American nuclear policy based on misguided ideological beliefs has unintentionally paved the way for an international "wild west" of nuclear development, dramatically undercutting the goal of nuclear containment and diminishing U.S. influence in the world. -- Book jacket