Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction by Joseph M. Siracusa

Author:Joseph M. Siracusa [Siracusa, Joseph M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780192604279
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2020-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

Evolution of nuclear deterrence

Not until the second decade of the nuclear age was the danger of nuclear weaponry and the perception of this danger sufficient to give rise to the concept of deterrence and create a Cold War stalemate. Eugene Rabinowitch, editor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, chose 1956 as the birth date of the ‘Age of Deterrence’, calling it AD 1, ‘the first year of deterrence’. Subsequently, others dated its arrival from 1954, 1955, or 1957. The Random House Dictionary (1987) chose 1955 as the date of its appearance, and defined it as ‘The distribution of nuclear weapons among nations such that no nation will initiate an attack for fear of retaliation.’ The standoff was also known as the ‘balance of terror’, a phrase made famous by Winston Churchill, but this was a bit too stark for popular consumption, while the term ‘deterrence’ was more easily digested (see Box 1).

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