GOVT 50.23 Keeping the Nuclear Peace

In the early years of the nuclear age, analysts anticipated dozens of states would acquire nuclear weapons and worried deeply about the outbreak of nuclear war. Yet we are now almost 80 years into the nuclear age and only nine states have nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons haven’t been used in war since 1945. This course will examine a variety of different explanations for these surprising outcomes, including the power of deterrence, normative beliefs, nonproliferation and arms control policies, and luck. It will also explore whether these trends are likely to continue in the coming decades, as many analysts fear we are entering a new and more dangerous nuclear age.

Instructor

Miller

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC

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