Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1942-2002

Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1942-2002 PDF Author: Jeremy Stocker
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780714656960
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Defence against ballistic missiles has been a subject of UK political policy and technical investigation since World War II - this book analyses that long history.

Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1942-2002

Britain and Ballistic Missile Defence, 1942-2002 PDF Author: Jeremy Stocker
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780714656960
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Defence against ballistic missiles has been a subject of UK political policy and technical investigation since World War II - this book analyses that long history.

Britain and Disarmament

Britain and Disarmament PDF Author: John R. Walker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317172396
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Since the use of poison gas during the First World War and the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan at the end of the Second World War, nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) weapons have registered high on the fears of governments and individuals alike. Recognising both the particular horror of these weapons, and their potential for inflicting mass death and destruction, much effort has been expended in finding ways to eliminate such weapons on a multi-lateral level. Based on extensive official archives, this book looks at how successive British governments approached the subject of control and disarmament between 1956 and 1975. This period reflects the UK's landmark decision in 1956 to abandon its offensive chemical weapons programme (a decision that was reversed in 1963, but never fully implemented), and ends with the internal travails over the possible use of CR (tear gas) in Northern Ireland. Whilst the issue of nuclear arms control has been much debated, the integration of biological and chemical weapons into the wider disarmament picture is much less well understood, there being no clear statement by the UK authorities for much of the period under review in this book as to whether the country even possessed such weapons or had an active research and development programme. Through a thorough exploration of government records the book addresses fundamental questions relating to the history of NBC weapons programmes, including the military, economic and political pressures that influenced policy; the degree to which the UK was a reluctant or enthusiastic player on the international arms control stage; and the effect of international agreements on Britain's weapons programmes. In exploring these issues, the study provides the first attempt to assess UK NBC arms control policy and practice during the Cold War.

The United Kingdom and Nuclear Deterrence

The United Kingdom and Nuclear Deterrence PDF Author: Jeremy Stocker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134974612
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 101

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Book Description
In December 2003 the British government announced that within a few years it would need to take decisions about the future of Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent. Exactly three years later, its plans were revealed in a White Paper. The existing Trident system is to be given a life-extension, which includes building new submarines to carry the missiles, costing £15–20 billion. Britain has a substantial nuclear legacy, having owned nuclear weapons for over half a century. The strategic context for the deterrent has changed completely with the end of the Cold War, but nuclear weapons retain much of their salience. This Adelphi Paper argues that it makes sense to remain a nuclear power in an uncertain and nuclear-armed world. Given that deterrence needs are now less acute, but more complex than in the past, the paper asserts that deterrence also needs to be aligned with non-proliferation policies, which seek to reduce the scale of threats that need to be deterred. Somewhat overlooked in current policy are appropriate measures of defence, which can raise the nuclear threshold and, if required, mitigate the effects of deterrence failure. It concludes that the government's decisions about the future form of the deterrent are very sensible, but cautions that they still need to be integrated into a broader policy that embraces diplomacy, deterrence and defence to counter the risks posed by nuclear proliferation.

The Official History of the UK Strategic Nuclear Deterrent

The Official History of the UK Strategic Nuclear Deterrent PDF Author: Matthew Jones
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351755390
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 576

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Book Description
Volume I of The Official History of the UK Strategic Nuclear Deterrent provides an authoritative and in-depth examination of the British government’s strategic nuclear policy from 1945 to 1964. Written with full access to the UK documentary record, this volume examines how British governments after 1945 tried to build and then maintain an independent, nationally controlled strategic nuclear capability, and the debates this provoked in official circles. Against a background of evolving British ideas about deterrence during the Cold War, it focuses on the strategic, political and diplomatic considerations that compelled governments, in the face of ever-increasing pressures on the defence budget, to persist in their efforts to develop nuclear weapons and to deploy a credible nuclear force, as the age of the manned bomber gave way to the ballistic missile. Particular attention is given to controversies over the portion of the defence budget devoted to the deterrent programme, the effects of the restoration of Anglo-American nuclear collaboration after 1958, increasing reliance on the United States for nuclear delivery systems, the negotiations that led to the Nassau Agreement of 1962 and the supply of Polaris, and discussions within the Western Alliance over the control of nuclear forces. By the time of the October 1964 election, when this volume concludes, previous dismissal of the prospects for successful ballistic missile defence were giving way to growing doubts over the long-term effectiveness of the Polaris system in its role as an independent deterrent, several years before it was due to enter service with the Royal Navy. This book will be of much interest to students of British politics, Cold War history, nuclear proliferation and international relations.

Geography, Technology and Instruments of Exploration

Geography, Technology and Instruments of Exploration PDF Author: Fraser MacDonald
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317128834
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Focusing on aspects of the functioning of technology, and by looking at instruments and at instrumental performance, this book addresses the epistemological questions arising from examining the technological bases to geographical exploration and knowledge claims. Questions of geography and exploration and technology are addressed in historical and contemporary context and in different geographical locations and intellectual cultures. The collection brings together scholars in the history of geographical exploration, historians of science, historians of technology and, importantly, experts with curatorial responsibilities for, and museological expertise in, major instrument collections. Ranging in their focus from studies of astronomical practice to seismography, meteorological instruments and rockets, from radar to the hand-held barometer, the chapters of this book examine the ways in which instruments and questions of technology - too often overlooked hitherto - offer insight into the connections between geography and exploration.

Space Policy in Developing Countries

Space Policy in Developing Countries PDF Author: Robert C. Harding
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415538459
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This book analyses the rationale and history of space programs in countries of the developing world. Space was at one time the sole domain of the wealthiest developed countries. However, the last couple of decades of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century have witnessed the number of countries with state-supported space programs blossom. Today, no less than twenty-five developing states, including the rapidly emerging economic powers of Brazil (seventh-largest), China (second-largest), and India (fourth-largest), possess active national space programs with already proven independent launch capability or concrete plans to achieve it soon. This work places these programs within the context of international relations theory and foreign policy analysis. The author categorizes each space program into tiers of development based not only on the level of technology utilised, but on how each fits within the country's overall national security and/or development policies. The text also places these programs into an historical context, which enables the author to demonstrate the logical thread of continuity in the political rationale for space capabilities generally. This book will be of much interest to students of space power and politics, development studies, strategic studies and international relations in general.

Losing an Empire and Finding a Role

Losing an Empire and Finding a Role PDF Author: K. Stoddart
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230369251
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
This book sheds fresh light on developments in British nuclear weapons policy between October 1964, when the Labour Party came back into power under Harold Wilson following a thirteen year absence, and June 1970 when the Conservative government of Edward Heath was elected.

Nuclear Illusion, Nuclear Reality

Nuclear Illusion, Nuclear Reality PDF Author: R. Moore
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230251404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 355

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Book Description
A study of the political, military and technical aspects of Britain's nuclear weapons programme under the Macmillan government, contrasting Britain's perceived political decline with its growth in technological mastery and military nuclear capability. Important reading for anyone interested in the history and military technology of the cold war.

Spying on the Nuclear Bear

Spying on the Nuclear Bear PDF Author: Michael S. Goodman
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804755856
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Based on previously unavailable sources, this book reveals the Anglo-American intelligence effort to penetrate the most secret domain of the Soviet government—its nuclear weapons program.

Labour’s Ballistic Missile Defence Policy 1997-2010

Labour’s Ballistic Missile Defence Policy 1997-2010 PDF Author: James Simpkin
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000812200
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
This book uses the ‘strategic-relational approach’ to explain how the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown integrated the United Kingdom into the US ballistic missile defence system in order to maintain national security and to uphold the ‘special relationship’ while at the same time recognising that voters were in general opposed to missile defence. Labour’s Ballistic Missile Defence Policy 1997–2010 examines how the Labour administration was tasked with navigating a domestic political environment in which they had to appear tough on defence in general in order to appeal to a broader range of the electorate while recognising that voters were opposed to missile defence in particular. This book seeks to answer the question of why the centre-left government of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, elected on a mandate of multi-lateralism in international relations and espousing an ‘ethical dimension’ to foreign policy, committed the United Kingdom to US ballistic missile defence – an internationally divisive military project associated with the US Republican Party and George W. Bush in particular. This book is essential for students and researchers interested in British military history, international relations, strategic studies, British politics, Labour politics and political theory.