Product Description

From the destruction of Hiroshima to the conclusion of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, the international community has struggled to halt the nuclear arms race and to prevent the annihilation of humanity. This study offers an accessible and authoritative account of European policy in this critical dimension of world politics. How much influence did Europeans exert in Washington? Why were European objectives often at variance with U.S. expectations? To what extent did differing national agendas on non-proliferation cause friction within the Western Alliance? Schrafstetter and Twigge examine five initiatives designed to prevent or restrain the nuclear arms race: the international option, the commercial option, the moral option, the multilateral option, and the legal option. Their conclusions show the extent to which non-proliferation policy dominated European politics and the transatlantic relationship.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2804967 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
“As Americans and Europeans debate global priorities and nuclear terror, this studied history of trans-Atlantic nuclear relations takes on added import. Schrafstetter and Twigge present a sophisticated and readable portrayal of the varied motives of the major powers, the realities of power and influence, and occasionally principled policymaking....Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and beyond.”–Choice

“[A] mind expanding experience. Susanna Schrafstetter and Stephen Twigge have performed a needed service in analyzing the contributions made by Great Britian, France, and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the struggle to control the bomb....Avoiding Armageddon masterfully "transforms the Europeans from merely bit players lurking in the wings of the Cold War to the center stage of world politics".”–Journal of Cold War Studies

About the Author
SUSANNA SCHRAFSTETTER is a Lecturer in History at the University of Glamorgan, Wales. She earned her Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of Munich, Germany, and is currently teaching as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Her research interests include nuclear history, especially non-proliferation policy, Anglo-German relations, and the Cold War. She has published articles in Contemporary European History, Diplomacy & Statecraft and Journal of Strategic Studies.

STEPHEN TWIGGE is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University College, London. He was formerly a Research Associate in the Department of International Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He has written widely in the field of nuclear history and international relations and is the author (with Len Scott) of Planning Armageddon: Britain, the United States and the Command of Western Nuclear Forces, 1945-1964.

Customer Reviews

Not really a good review
While I have not read this book, I recently completed a course taught by Prof. Schrafstetter at the University of Nebraska. If the book is anything like her course (Germany and Eastern Europe after 1945), it will be interesting and very informative. I am only speaking on knowledge of her teaching style, but she came across as very knowledgeable and seemes to have a keen understanding of nearly everthing pertaining to the subject. I hope this helps, I just don't like to see things go unreviewed on amazon.