Arms negotiation and control Books

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Book SynopsisBrings together the views of leading thinkers - in science, medicine, international and constitutional law, law enforcement, intelligence, and crisis management - on all diverse aspects of the threat of biological and chemical weapons.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a theory of spacepower and considers the implications of space technology on strategy and international relations.Trade Review"War in Space is unquestionably a must-read book." - Augusto C. Dall'Agnol, E-International Relations. "Dr Bowen is a leading spacepower thinker and this book is the culmination of 8 year's work. It is an impressive and comprehensive study which makes a significant contribution to spacepower theory and will undoubtedly take its place on the essential reading lists of universities and defence academies around the world." - Andy Netherwood, Wavell Room. "War in Space delivers groundbreaking insights using traditional continental sea power theory as a template for strengthening space power theory. The largest contribution to space power thought in a generation, Bowen's seminal ideas are destined to inform wide audiences and guide our way ahead as space becomes increasingly contested and the USA stands up its Space Force." - Peter L. Hays, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University.

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Book SynopsisIn Dark Beyond Darkness, James Blight and janet Lang, among the world’s foremost authorities on the Cuban missile crisis, synthesize the findings from their thirty-year project on the most dangerous moment in recorded history. Authoritative, accessible, and written with their usual flair and wit, DBD is the first book to take readers deeply inside the experience and calculations of Fidel Castro, who was willing to martyr Cuba if his new Russian ally would nuke the U.S. and destroy it. Blight and Lang have established that in October 1962, the world was on the brink of Armageddon, and that we escaped by luck. Their history is scary but unimpeachably accurate: we just barely escaped the cold and the dark in October 1962. Their history also comes with a warning: we are currently at risk not only of Armageddon-fast, in a war between superpowers, but Armageddon-in-Slow-Motion (the result a climate catastrophe following a regional nuclear war), and from Armageddon, Oops! (a conflict sparked by an accident, which is misinterpreted, and ends in nuclear war). Drawing on the insights of poets, musicians and novelists, as well as climate scientists and agronomists, they show the terrible risk we run by refusing to abolish nuclear weapons.Trade ReviewBlight and Lang, married scholars at the University of Waterloo, use the Cuban missile crisis as a case study in developing a long argument against nuclear weapons. The authors, decades-long advocates of nuclear disarmament, advance their premise here by presenting the U.S.-Soviet crisis over missiles in Cuba from the perspective of the Cuban government. They argue that the Cuban leadership’s role in the crisis has been underappreciated and that Cuban leadership was very willing to sacrifice Cuba to provoke a nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. It is an interesting thesis.... [T]his book will be of interest to those drawn to the anti-nuclear movement and those looking for an uncommon viewpoint on the event. * Publishers Weekly *“This book builds in intensity, from the first shocking page to the last sober reflection. The sensory material about the impact of the U.S. low-level flights over Cuba is perfect, brilliant. These are true war sounds. It’s great to have this dimension in the book. Reading this book in the age of Trump is truly horrifying: the IMAX version of the most dangerous moment in recorded history.” -- Edward T. Linenthal, Indiana University, former editor-in-chief, The Journal of American History“Jim Blight and janet Lang place Cuba at the center of the Cuban missile crisis in this chilling wake-up call about our complacency with nuclear weapons.” -- Bruce Riedel, Director of the Brookings Intelligence Project“Jim Blight and janet Lang have crafted another indispensable book proving that the lessons of the Cuban missile crisis may hold the key to our survival - if only we learn them. Using history, psychology, and their gifted imaginations, they force us to recognize how precarious is a world with nuclear weapons, and how stunningly lucky we have been to avoid catastrophe. This book encourages us to rid the world of nuclear weapons, and terrifies us with an unforgettable understanding of what happens if we don’t.” -- Phil Alden Robinson, director and screenwriter“The authors do two rare things for the reader: they entertain in this genuinely funny book about Armageddon (!), while they inform deeply. Blight and Lang gracefully weave a fabric of scholarship, literature, and memory to provide not merely the facts of this haunting episode, but the broader meaning of nuclear annihilation—which is what was at stake in 1962. They draw on cultural artifacts—everything from Lord Byron to Cormac McCarthy—to brace and explore the meaning of the nuclear peril. And that is a peril, they convincingly remind us, which remains with us today and demands new attention. They challenge millennials to recognize the danger and act to abolish nuclear weapons. Dark Beyond Darkness should be atop every citizen’s reading list.” -- John Tirman, executive director of the MIT Center for International Studies“This groundbreaking book addresses the challenge of understanding those in small countries—those who in 1962, and still today, have been on the dark edge of annihilation by nuclear or conventional means.” -- Rafael Hernandez, founder and editor of Temas magazine, published in Havana, CubaTable of ContentsAuthors’ Note Prologue: Armageddon in Retrospect: On the Road with Papa & The Boy Part One: Dark Chapter 1: Shit (Almost) Happened in October 1962: The Struggle to Avoid Armageddon Involves the Struggle of Memory Against Forgetting. Chapter 2: The Bullshit: Bad Guys Threaten; Good Guys Stand Firm; Good Guys Win; Bad Guys Lose; the Little Guy Doesn’t Matter; JFK’s Moxie Prevails. Chapter 3: The Truth: Big Guys Ignore Little Guy; Feeling Doomed, Little Guy Throws Caution to the Wind, Starts Shooting, and Asks Big Friend to Nuke the U.S.; Armageddon Nearly Occurs. Part Two: Darker Chapter 4: Habitable History: How Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Became the Template for a “WABAC” Machine for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Chapter 5: Be Robert McNamara: Bringing the Abolition Message Home, With (and Without) “Maximum Bob” Chapter 6: Be Fidel Castro: A Leader at the Hinge of the World. Part Three: Darkest Chapter 7: Armageddon in Slow Motion: More Bullshit and Truth about Avoiding Armageddon in the 21st Century. Chapter 8: Armageddon Oops! Nuclear War via Mechanical and/or Human Screw-up. Chapter 9: On The Road Again Via Climate Catastrophe: From a 19th Century Volcanic Eruption to a 21st Century Nuclear Winter. Part Four: The Darkness Defined and Defied (via the Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis) Chapter 10: Be Anybody WABAC: Empathy, Not Sympathy is the Key. Chapter 11: Darkness Visible: Findings, Takeaways and Imperatives of the Cuban Missile Crisis Chapter 12: The Black Saturday Manifesto: Abolishing Nuclear Weapons One Anniversary Per Year, For As Long As It Takes. Epilogue: Show Us Your Darkness: Warning Given! Warning Received? Acknowledgments Permissions & Credits Notes Index About the Authors

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisThe nuclear age is coming to the Middle East. Understanding the scope and motivations for this development and its implications for global security is essential. The last decade has witnessed an explosion of popular and scholarly attention focussed on nuclear issues around the globe and especially in the Middle East. These studies fall into one of four general categories. They tend to focus either on the security and military aspects of nuclear weapons, or on the sources and mechanisms for proliferation and means of reversing it, or nuclear energy, or the logics driving state policymakers toward adopting the nuclear option. The Nuclear Question in the Middle East is the first book of its kind to combine thematic and theoretical discussions regarding nuclear weapons and nuclear energy with case studies from across the region. What are the key domestic drivers of nuclear behaviour and decision-making in the Middle East? How are the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council seeking to employ nuclear energy to further guarantee and expedite their hyper-growth of recent decades? Are there ideal models emerging in this regard that others might emulate in the foreseeable future, and, if so, what consequences is this development likely to have for other civilian nuclear aspirants? These region-wide themes form the backdrop against which specific case studies are examined.Trade Review'A top flight collection of essays on one of the most controversial and sensitive topics in both Middle East politics and studies of nuclear proliferation in general. - provides a great overview of how the current situation has come about, and how regional actors are likely to press ahead in the medium and longterm future. A solid multidisciplinary investigation into a key global issue.' * Christopher Davidson, Reader in Middle East Politics at Durham University *'Combining theoretical perspectives with rich empirical insights, this superb volume offers a comprehensive exploration of nuclear dynamics in a rapidly changing Middle East. The research is well-organized, well-written and highly nuanced - an elusive combination. The authors are informed by a deep historical sensibility, yet are also forward looking in their analyses. In particular, the chapters on the domestic sources of nuclear decision-making will be of immense value to specialists and policymakers grappling with the still-unfolding implications of the Arab revolts and Iran's nuclear ambitions.' * Frederic Wehrey, Senior Policy Analyst, RAND Corporation and author of Coping with a Nuclearizing Iran (RAND, 2011) *'While the world watches Iran, and tries to guess how many nuclear weapons Israel has, nuclear programs are being developed across the Middle East. The timely message in this valuable study of the current situation is that the Middle East is going nuclear whether the world likes it or not.' * Jeremy Salt, Department of Political Science at Bilkent University (Ankara), and author of The Unmaking of the Middle East. A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands *

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