Review: International: The Politics of Nuclear Proliferation
| Date | 01 June 1975 |
| Published date | 01 June 1975 |
| Author | Robert Ranger |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070207503000214 |
| Subject Matter | Review |
344
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
can
policy-makers,
he
accepts
their
outlook
and
points
to the
need
to
'raise
the
Soviet
learning
curve'
in
working
toward
a
convergence
of
superpower
thinking
about
stable deterrence
(this
even
though there
is
no
word
for
deterrence
in
the
Russian
language).
On
the
other
hand,
he repeatedly
refers
to
'the
metaphysics of
deterrence,'
'SALT
scholastics,'
and
the
'theology'
of
SALT,
apparently in
deference
to
the
view
of
the
outsider
'as
well
as
some
insiders'
that
'nuclear
deterrence
is
a
fantasy
world
having
nothing
to do
with
the real
issues
dividing
the
blocs'
(esp.
p
Ii19).
Are
American
concepts
of
mutual
deterrence
illusory?
Does
SALT
point
to
the
creation
of
an
equilibrium
that
for
a
century
will
spare
the
world
a
major
bloodletting?
Are
the
United
States
and
the
Soviet
Union
engaged
in an
arms
race
with
one
another,
or
with
unreal
images
of
the
other
conjured
up
by
their
own
bureaucracies?
These
or
for
that
matter other
quite
different questions
about
the
meaning
of
SALT
could
well
have
been considered
by
the
author,
had
he
chosen
to
provide
us
with
a
conclusion
to
this
volume.
Franklyn
Griffiths/University
of
Toronto
THE
POLITICS
OF
NUCLEAR
PROLIFERATION
George
Quester
Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins
[Toronto:
Copp
Clark],
1973,
xii,
249PP,
$13.25
India's
detonation
of
its first
nuclear
weapon,
thinly
disguised
as
a
'peaceful'
nuclear
explosion,
in
May
1974,
has
reawakened
interest
in
the problem
of
nuclear
proliferation,
making
Professor
Quester's
book
particularly
timely.
He
has
focussed
on
the
differing perceptions
of
the
advantages
and
disadvantages
of
the
1968
Non-Proliferation
Treaty
(NPT)
held in the
most
relevant
national
capitals,
including
Washing-
ton,
Moscow,
New
Delhi,
Jerusalem,
and
Tokyo.
His
descriptions
of
the
various
perspectives
on
the
NPT
are
extremely
thorough
and
well-
balanced
and
have
been
confirmed
by
events
since
this
book
was
writ-
ten.
His
account
of
the
debate
in New
Delhi
makes
India's
decision
to
go
nuclear
immediately
intelligible,
whilst
nicely
summing
up
Ottawa's
dilemma
as
that
of
'the
first
country
to
give
away
nuclear
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