- 242 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
This volume brings together more than three decades of research and writings by Professor Ramesh Thakur on the challenges posed by nuclear weapons.
Following an introduction to the current nuclear state of play, the book addresses the challenge of nuclear weapons in three parts. Part I describes the scholar-practitioner interface in trying to come to grips with this challenge, the main policy impact on security strategy, and the various future nuclear scenarios. Part II addresses regional nuclear challenges from the South Pacific to East, South and West Asia and thereby highlights serious deficiencies in the normative architecture of the nuclear arms control and disarmament regime. In the third and final part, the chapters discuss regional nuclear-weapon-free zones, NPT anomalies (and their implications for the future of the nuclear arms control regime) and, finally, assess the global governance architecture of nuclear security in light of the three Nuclear Security Summits between 2010 and 2014. The concluding chapter argues for moving towards a world of progressively reduced nuclear weapons in numbers, reduced salience of nuclear weapons in national security doctrines and deployments, and, ultimately, a denuclearized world.
This book will be of much interest to students of nuclear proliferation, global governance, international organisations, diplomacy and security studies.
Frequently asked questions
Information
1 Introduction The challenge of nuclear weapons
‘The threat of global nuclear war has become remote, but the risk of nuclear war has increased. Today’s most immediate and extreme danger remains nuclear terrorism …. Today’s other pressing threat is nuclear proliferation’.– Report on Nuclear Employment Strategy of the United States, 12 June 20131
‘We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe’.– US President Barack Obama, Berlin, 19 June 20132
Arms control
First test | 2010 | 201 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deployed* | Other | Total | ||||||
US | 1945 | 9600 | 8500 | 850080 | 7700 | 1920 | 5380 | 7300 |
Russia | 1949 | 12000 | 12000 | 008000 | 8500 | 1600 | 6400 | 8000 |
UK | 1952 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 225 | 160 | 65 | 225 |
France | 1960 | 300 | 300 | 300 | 300 | 290 | 10 | 300 |
China | 1964 | 240 | 240 | 240 | 250 | 250 | 250 | |
Israel | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | ||
India | 1974 | 60–80 | 80–100 | 80–100 | 90–110 | 80–10 | 90–110 | |
Pakistan | 1998 | 70–90 | 90–110 | 90–110 | 100–120 | 100–120 | 100–120 | |
North Korea | 2006 | 6–8 | 6–8 | |||||
Totals | 22,595 | 20,535 | 19,035 | 17,245 | 3,970 | 12,402 | 16,372 |
Year | US | USSR/Russia | Britain | France | China | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1945 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
1950 | 369 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 374 |
1955 | 3 057 | 200 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3,267 |
1960 | 20,434 | 1,605 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 22,069 |
1965 | 31,982 | 6,129 | 310 | 32 | 5 | 38,458 |
1970 | 26,662 | 11,643 | 280 | 36 | 75 | 38,696 |
1975 | 27,826 | 19,055 | 350 | 188 | 185 | 47,604 |
1980 | 24,304 | 30,062 | 350 | 250 | 280 | 55,246 |
1986* | 24,401 | 45,000 | 300 | 355 | 425 | 70,481 |
1990 | 21,004 | 37,000 | 300 | 505 | 430 | 59,239 |
1995 | 12,144 | 27,000 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 40,344 |
2000 | 10,577 | 21,000 | 185 | 470 | 400 | 32,632 |
2005 | 10.295 | 17,000 | 200 | 350 | 400 | 28,245 |
2010 | 8,500 | 11,000 | 225 | 300 | 240 | 20,265 |
2014 | 7,300 | 8,000 | 225 | 300 | 250 | 16,075 |
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Half Title Page
- series
- Dedication
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Tables
- Abbreviation
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- 1 Introduction The challenge of nuclear weapons
- Part I The nuclear debate
- Part II Regional challenges in Asia, the Pacific and the Middle East
- Part III The nuclear regime
- Index