HY448 Living with the Bomb: An International History of Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race from the Second World War to the end of the Cold War

HY448
Living with the Bomb: An International History of Nuclear Weapons and the Arms Race from the Second World War to the end of the Cold War

This information is for the 2015/16 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Matthew Jones E309

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in History of International Relations, MSc in International Affairs (杏吧论坛 and Peking University), MSc in International and World History (杏吧论坛 & Columbia) and MSc in Theory and History of International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Course content

This course takes as a prime focus the nuclear policies pursued by some of the major powers in the international system from the initial use of nuclear weapons against Japan in 1945 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It introduces and explores three main themes: how the advent of nuclear weapons came to influence national strategies and crisis behaviour; why the development of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems fuelled an arms race that became one of the defining features of the Cold War; and how major power