What Are Nuclear Weapons For?

Patricia Shamai is senior lecturer in international relations at the University of Portsmouth. Her research addresses the norms associated with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. She has previously worked with the UK Ministry of Defence, NATO specialists and US government experts to support dialogue and collaboration to address deterrence in a twenty-first-century context.

Preface


Understanding the purpose of nuclear weapons


1. Introduction


2. Nuclear Weapons: Basics and Beginnings


3. The Strategic Power of Nuclear Weapons: Cold War Politics





Moral and strategic qualities


4. The moral aspects of nuclear weapons: Stigma and Taboo


5. Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Popular Protest





Nuclear weapons post-Cold War


6. Nuclear Weapons after the Cold War


7. Nuclear Threats in the 21st Century





Conclusion


8. (Still) Living with the Bomb?