The Race for Nuclear Weapons: Deterrence, second-strike capability and the political logic of nuclear armament - Brossura

Schäfer, Nico

Brossura

ISBN 13: 9798174867543

Casa editrice: Independently published, 2026

Riassunto

How did a single new weapon give rise to a global system of deterrence that still shapes international politics today?
"The Race for Nuclear Weapons" tells the story of nuclear armament from the first research programs of World War II to the new strategic rivalries of the 21st century. The focus is not only on bombs, missiles and technical developments, but above all on the political decisions, security fears and military considerations that drove the nuclear arms race.
The book explains in an understandable way why the United States and the Soviet Union built up ever larger arsenals, why the second-strike capability became the core of nuclear deterrence, and how the so-called balance of terror came about. It shows the importance of strategic bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines and why new technologies such as multiple warheads or missile defense could strengthen and endanger stability at the same time.
Among other things, the emergence of the first nuclear weapons, the American nuclear monopoly, the development of the hydrogen bomb, the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crises, Mutual Assured Destruction, SALT and START, the NATO Double-Track Decision, the INF Treaty and the major disarmament steps at the end of the Cold War will be discussed.
In addition, the focus is on the global proliferation of nuclear weapons. Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea and South Africa show that states sought nuclear deterrence for very different reasons. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the attempt to prevent the further proliferation of these weapons are also clearly classified.
The last third of the book leads to the present. It explains why the nuclear issue did not disappear after the end of the Cold War, why Russia and the United States continue to modernize their arsenals, and why the rapid expansion of China's nuclear forces has created a new strategic situation. Modern challenges such as hypersonic weapons, missile defense, cyberattacks, space systems and reduced decision times are also taken into account.
The focus is on a central question: Why do states invest enormous resources in weapons whose most important task is precisely to never have to be used?
This book is aimed at history buffs, politically interested readers, and anyone who wants to gain an understandable overview of the history of nuclear weapons and the logic of nuclear deterrence. It is deliberately not an academic textbook for historians, but a factual and easily accessible introduction to one of the most important security policy topics in modern history.
An overview of eight decades of nuclear power politics and of the paradoxical system in which the ability to annihilate became an instrument of war prevention.

Parts of the text have been revised with the support of artificial intelligence. It was used as a tool in structuring, research and linguistic elaboration. The contents have been carefully edited, historically classified and checked for factual consistency. In this way, the book combines modern working methods with the claim to offer a serious, understandable and high-quality presentation.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Independently published
• Data di pubblicazione: 2026
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 13: 9798174867543
• Rilegatura: Tapa blanda
• Numero di pagine: 260
• Contatto del produttore: Printed by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.es/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.ā.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Lussemburgo