Under the Gun; Nuclear Weapons and the Superpowers

Stanford, CA: Stanford Alumni Association. First Printing [Stated]. Trade paperback. Very good. Dan Frazier (Cover Design). xiii, [1], 193, [1] pages. Illustrations. Chronology. Notes. Suggested Reading. Glossary of Terms. Index. Cover has slight wear and soiling. This is one of The Portable Stanford is a series publication of the Stanford Alumni Association. Dr. Coit Dennis Blacker is the Olivier Nomellini Professor in International Studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. He served as Special Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council under National Security Advisor Anthony Lake during the Clinton administration. From 2003-2012, he was the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and is a current Study Group Member of the National Commission on Terrorism. The United States was the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons, with help from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, and is the only country to have used them in combat, with the separate bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Before and during the Cold War, it conducted over a thousand nuclear tests and tested many long-range nuclear weapons delivery systems. Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. government spent at least $8.89 trillion in present-day terms on nuclear weapons, including platforms development (aircraft, rockets and facilities), command and control, maintenance, waste management and administrative costs. It is estimated that, since 1945, the United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads, which is more than all other nuclear weapon states combined. The Soviet Union/Russia has produced approximately 55,000 nuclear warheads since 1949, France built 1110 warheads since 1960, the United Kingdom built 835 warheads since 1952, China built about 600 warheads since 1964, and other nuclear powers built fewer than 500 warheads all together since they developed their first nuclear weapons. Until November 1962, the vast majority of U.S. nuclear tests were above ground. After the acceptance of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, all testing was relegated underground, in order to prevent the dispersion of nuclear fallout.