The Finger on the Button

Abstract

Since the advent of the nuclear age, the leader of the United States has had to deal with the ultimate responsibility—the power to control or unleash nuclear weapons. Historian James Goodby, in At the Borderline of Armageddon, looks at how these leaders have handled this. For almost 60 years, the distinction between preemption and preventive war has been clear, yet now the line has been blurred. Nonproliferation norms and the accompanying treaty regime have been weakened (in part) by actions taken by the United States, despite its stated commitment to nonproliferation. There is much a U.S. president could do to bolster the regime, yet in the current political environment, it is unlikely to happen, argues Goodby.

Keywords:

• U.S. presidents
• Nuclear weapons
• Atomic age
• Preemptive and preventive war

Notes

1. The Department of Defense Dictionary of Military Terms defines “preemption” as “an attack initiated on the basis of incontrovertible evidence that an enemy attack is imminent,” and ”preventive war” as “a war initiated in the belief that military conflict, while not imminent, is inevitable and that to delay would involve greater risk,” see <www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict>.