Confronting the Bomb - Book Report/Review Example

Instead, he argues that a mass nuclear disarmament movement has mobilized millions of people worldwide and has pressured governments to adopt nuclear disarmament agreements. In short, Wittner contends that the antinuclear movement--not "peace through strength"--has saved the world from nuclear Armageddon. In addition, Wittner challenges U.S. Cold War "triumphalism"--the notion that American political will and military might, in particular Reagan's enormous arms build-up and military spending, precipitated the Soviet collapse and enabled the United States to win the Cold War.

Instead, he credits Gorbachev, along with the antinuclear movement that influenced him, for taking the steps that ended the Cold War. Furthermore, he contends that Reagan's military buildup actually encouraged--not discouraged--Soviet militarism. That said, he also notes Reagan's contributions to the 1987 INF Treaty banning intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Wittner argues that the nuclear disarmament movement--"the largest grassroots struggle in the modern world"--was divided into competing non-aligned and communist-led wings.

Aligned with Soviet foreign policy, the communist-led wing, organized around the World Peace Council, had little credibility outside the communist bloc. Conversely, the nonaligned wing, which included pacifists, atomic scientists, world federalists, ordinary citizens, and local, national, and transnational organizations, had a greater impact. According to Wittner, the movement followed recurring cycles of activism and retreat. When the nuclear menace has been most hazardous, the movement has grown into a more influential force, curbing the nuclear arms race and deterring nuclear war.

When the nuclear threat has subsided, the movement has declined and national security officials have renewed their nuclear plans. Most government officials, he contends, adopted nuclear arms control and disarmament reluctantly--and only in response to popular pressure and resistance. Thus, in Wittner's account, the global antinuclear movement has been the primary agent in nuclear disarmament. Wittner explains the movement's various victories, from 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty (the world's first nuclear arms treaty) to the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (the last major nuclear arms treaty).

By the mid-1990s, however, the movement confronted new challenges. George W. Bush abandoned nuclear restraints, Britain and France considered new nuclear weapons, India and Pakistan became nuclear powers, Iran and pre-2003 Iraq sought to develop nuclear weapons, and North Korea tested long-range ballistic missiles. In a thoughtful conclusion, Wittner turns to the political implications of his scholarly work. Like numerous of the antinuclear activists that he has studied, he advocates nuclear abolition and the transformation of the international system.

He attributes the continued existence of nuclear weapons to "the pathology of the nation-state system" that relies on the "national security" paradigm and seeks peace through military strength. This traditional approach, Wittner warns, will eventually lead to nuclear war and human destruction. This point segues nicely to the second point, which is Wittner's account of the success of the disarmament movement and the true thesis of this book--how ordinary citizen activists were able to change the course of history.

Throughout the historical timeline, Wittner makes a point of showcasing the divide between government and public opinion, but he argues that activism tempered government policy. Every positive step on the road to