Journal Article - Quarterly Journal: International Security
Would U.S. Leaders Push the Button? Wargames and the Sources of Nuclear Restraint
Summary
Why haven’t nuclear weapons been used since 1945? During the Cold War, senior U.S. officials participated in many wargames that included scenarios of possible nuclear war. The declassified records of these exercises reveal that participants in the simulations decided not to “launch” nuclear attacks partly because they wanted to avoid provoking nuclear retaliation, but also because they worried that their reputations would suffer or thought that conventional weapons would be more effective.
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The full text of this publication is available via the original publication source.
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For Academic Citation:
Reid B.C. Pauly, "Would U.S. Leaders Push the Button? Wargames and the Sources of Nuclear Restraint," International Security, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Fall 2018), pp. 151–192, doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00333.
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Summary
Why haven’t nuclear weapons been used since 1945? During the Cold War, senior U.S. officials participated in many wargames that included scenarios of possible nuclear war. The declassified records of these exercises reveal that participants in the simulations decided not to “launch” nuclear attacks partly because they wanted to avoid provoking nuclear retaliation, but also because they worried that their reputations would suffer or thought that conventional weapons would be more effective.
Want to Read More?
The full text of this publication is available via the original publication source.Reid B.C. Pauly, "Would U.S. Leaders Push the Button? Wargames and the Sources of Nuclear Restraint," International Security, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Fall 2018), pp. 151–192, doi:10.1162/ISEC_a_00333.
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