gov256: nuclear politics
understanding the development, spread, and use of nuclear weapons
Prof. Erica De Bruin
Email: edebruin@hamilton.edu
Website: www.ericadebruin.com
Office hours: sign up
TA: Katie Mathis, kmathis@hamilton.edu
what to expect in this course
This course aims to provide students with the background and analytical skills necessary to evaluate competing arguments about the development, spread, and use of nuclear weapons, as well as to enable you to become more politically engaged on issues related to nuclear security. Classes will involve a combination of lecture, small group discussion, and in-class writing exercises intended to help you engage deeply with course material. The reading schedule may be updates in response to real-world developments over the course of the semester.
readings & schedule
There are two required books for the course available for purchase or via library reserves. All other readings can be accessed via the links below. Complete all readings listed under each date below.
Introduction
August 29. Introduction: Why study nuclear politics? (slides)
- Please fill out the welcome survey, and familiarize yourself with the course website
Sept. 3. How nuclear weapons work (slides)
- Joseph M. Siracusa, Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction, “Chapter 1: “What are Nuclear Weapons?,” pp. 1-9 (N)
- Federation of American Scientists, “Status of the World's Nuclear Forces,” March 20, 2024
- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “Nowhere to Hide: How a Nuclear War Would Kill You—And Almost Everyone Else,” October 20, 2022
- Use the online NukeMap tool to get a sense for the effects of nuclear weapons
Recommended readings (not required)
- S.J. Beard, “How to Read the Doomsday Clock,” BBC.com, January 19, 2022
- Uri Friedman, “A Third Nuclear Age is Upon Us,” The Atlantic, August 2022
- Matthew Bunn, “How Nuclear Bombs Work," video (1h5m), Harvard Belfer Center, September 10, 2013
- Sam Seitz, “A Basic Introduction to Nuclear Weapons Design,” blog post, October 9, 2022
- Sam Seitz, “Thermonuclear Theory: A Basic Introduction to Hydrogen Bombs,” blog post, October 15, 2022
- Foreign Affairs, “Will More States Acquire Nuclear Weapons? Foreign Affairs Asks the Experts,” December 14, 2021
The history and development of nuclear weapons
Sept. 5. The Manhattan Project and nuclear testing (slides)
- Siracusa, Nuclear Weapons, “Chapter 2: Building the Bomb,” pp. 10-26 (N)
- Leona Marshall Libby, “If Only We Had Been Clever Enough,” in The Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians, edited by Cynthia C. Kelly (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020), 10-14
- Atomic Heritage Foundation, “Trinity Test Eyewitnesses,” n.d.
- Susanne Rust, “How the U.S. Betrayed the Marshall Islands, Kindling the Next Nuclear Disaster,” Lost Angeles Times, November 201, 2019
- William Broad, "Trump Advisers Call for U.S. Nuclear Weapons Testing if He Is Elected," New York Time, July 5, 2024
Sep. 10. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (slides)
- Sean L. Malloy, “‘When You Have to Deal with a Beast’: Race, Ideology, and the Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb,” in The Age of Hiroshima, edited by Michael D. Gordin and G. John Ikenberry (Princeton University Press, 2020), pp. 56-70 (N)
- Ward Wilson, “The Winning Weapon? Rethinking Nuclear Weapons in Light of Hiroshima,” International Security 31, no. 4 (Spring 2007), 162-179 (N)
- Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, “The Bomb in National Memories,” in The Manhattan Project, edited by Cynthia C. Kelly (Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020) in pp. 387-392
Recommended readings (not required)
- Vox video, “Oppenheimer's Secret City, Explained” (9m 5s), July 20, 2023
- Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb (Simon & Schuster, 1986)
- Kathleen M. Tucker and Robert Alvarez, “Trinity: The Most Significant Hazard of the Manhattan Project,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 15, 2019
- Nic Maclellan, “The Nuclear Age in the Pacific Islands,” The Contemporary Pacific 17, no. 2 (2015): 363–372
- Gar Alperovitz. “Hiroshima: Historians Reassess,” Foreign Policy 99 (1995): 15–34
- Katherine E. McKinney, Scott D. Sagan, Allen S. Weiner, “Why the Bombing of Hiroshima Would Be Illegal Today,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, July 1, 2020
- Sean L. Malloy, “'A Very Pleasant Way to Die': Radiation Effects and the Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Against Japan,” Diplomatic History 36, no. 3 (June 2012): 515-545
- Kate Brown, Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, and the Great Soviet and American Plutonium Disasters (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Conflict, coercion, and deterrence
Sep. 12. Coercion and deterrence (slides)
- Thomas Schelling, Arms and Influence, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT, 2020), Chapters 1-3 (N) (*available electronically)
- Tami Davis Biddle, “Coercion Theory: A Basic Introduction for Practitioners,” Texas National Security Review 3, no. 2 (Spring 2020)
Sep. 17. Nuclear weapons and the war in Ukraine (slides)
- Rose McDermott, Reid Pauly, and Paul Slovic, “Putin and the Psychology of Nuclear Brinksmanship,” Foreign Affairs, May 30, 2023
- Bettina Rez, “Was the Russian Invasion of Ukraine a Failure of Western Deterrence?” Parameters 53, no. 4 (2023): 7-19
- Mariana Budjeryn, “Distressing a System in Distress: Global Nuclear Order and Russia's War Against Ukraine,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 78, no 6 (2022): 339-346
- Nina Tannenwald, “Bomb in the Background: What the War in Ukraine Has Revealed about Nuclear Weapons,” Foreign Affairs, February 24, 2023,
Sep. 19. Q&A w/ Prof. Matthew Evangelista (Cornell University), “A 'Nuclear Umbrella' For Ukraine?”
- Matthew Evangelista, “A Nuclear Umbrella' For Ukraine? Precedents and Possibilities for Postwar European Security,” International Security 48, no. 3 (2023/2024): 7-50 (N)
- As you read, identify 1-2 questions that you have about the article's argument, analysis, or implications; email them to me by 4pm on Sep. 18
Recommended readings (not required)
- Deterrence 101 videos
- Vipin Narang, “What Does it Take to Deter? Regional Power Nuclear Postures and International Conflict,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 57, no. 3 (2013): 478-508
- Sam Seitz, “Madly Fleeing MAD: How and Why Washington Has Always Planned to Win a Nuclear Conflict,” May 1, 2022
- Marc S. Bell and Nicholas L. Miller, “Questioning the Effect of Nuclear Weapons on Conflict,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 59, no. 1 (2015): 74-92
- Matthew Evangelista, “Oppenheimer Envisioned the Tactical Use of Nuclear Weapons. Putin Now Threatens It,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, October 23, 2023
- Eric Brewer, Nicholas L. Miller, and Tristan Volpe, “Ukraine Won't Ignite a Nuclear Scramble,” Foreign Affairs, November 17, 2022
Nuclear proliferation and strategy
Sep. 24. Nuclear proliferation and reversal (slides)
- Scott D. Sagan, “Why Do States Build Nuclear Weapons? Three Models in Search of a Bomb,” International Security 21, no. 3 (1997): 54-86 (N)
- Rupal N. Mehta, Delaying Doomsday: The Politics of Nuclear Reversal (Oxford University Press, 2020), Chapter 1 (N)
- Sam Seitz, “The Need for Nukes: Why States Pursue Nuclear Weapons,” blog post, December 14, 2021
Sep. 26. Guest lecture: Prof. Lauren Sukin, “Nuclear Strategy and Superiority”
- Abby Fanlo and Lauren Sukin, “The Disadvantage of Nuclear Superiority,” Security Studies 32, no. 3 (2023): 446-475 (N)
- Please read the assigned article, take a look at Prof. Sukin's website, think of a question you would like to ask her, and email it to me by 4pm on September 25
- Document Analysis Assignment will be handed out in class (due October 6)
Recommended readings (not required)
- Nuno P. Monteiro and Alexandre Debs, “The Strategic Logic of Nuclear Proliferation,” International Security 39, no. 2 (2014): 7-51
- Christopher Way and Jessica Weeks, “Making it Personal: Regime Type and Nuclear Proliferation,” American Journal of Political Science 58, no. 3 (2014): 705-719
- Alexander Lanoszka, Atomic Assurance: The Alliance Politics of Nuclear Proliferation (Cornell University Press, 2018)
- Vipin Narang, Seeking the Bomb: Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation (Princeton University Press, 2021)
- Togzhan Kassenova, Atomic Steppe: How Kazakhstan Gave Up the Bomb (Stanford University Press, 2022)
- Todd S. Sechser and Matthew Fuhrmann, “Crisis Bargaining and Nuclear Blackmail,” International Organization 67, no. 1 (2013): 173-195
- Mark S. Bell, “Nuclear Opportunism: A Theory of How States Use Nuclear Weapons in International Politics,” Journal of Strategic Studies (2017): 1-26
- Mark S. Bell, Nuclear Reactions: How Nuclear-Armed States Behave (Cornell University Press, 2021)
The puzzle of nuclear non-use
Oct. 1. The nuclear taboo (slides)
- Nina Tannenwald, “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Normative Basis of Nuclear Non-Use,” International Organization 53, no. 3 (1999): 433-468 (N)
Oct 3. Working on the document analysis assignment
- In-class work session; no additional reading
Recommended readings (not required)
- Daryl G. Press, Scott D. Sagan, and Benjamin A. Valentino, “Atomic Aversion: Experimental Evidence on Taboos, Traditions, and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons,” American Political Science Review 107, no. 1 (2013): 188–206
- Scott D. Sagan and Benjamin A. Valentino, “Revisiting Hiroshima in Iran: What Americans Really Think about Using Nuclear Weapons and Killing Noncombatants,” International Security 42, no. 1 (2017): 41–79
- Rebecca Davis Gibbons and Keir Lieber, “How Durable is the Nuclear Weapons Taboo?,” Journal of Strategic Studies 42, no. 1 (2019): 29-54
- Brian C. Rathbun and Rachel Stein, “Greater Goods: Morality and Attitudes Toward the Use of Nuclear Weapons,” Journal of Conflict Resolution 64, no. 5 (2020): 787-816
- United States Department of State Office of the Historian, “Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations: The Berlin Crisis, 1958-1961,” n.d
*Submit: Document analysis assignment, Sunday, Oct. 6, by 11:59pm
Nuclear weapons and the Cold War
Oct. 8. Nuclear weapons and the origins and escalation of the Cold War (slides)
- Craig Campbell and Sergey Radchenko, The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War, New Haven, CT (Yale University Press, 2008), “Chapter 5: The Baruch Plan and the Onset of American Cold War,” 111-134 (N)
- David Holloway, “Nuclear Weapons and the Escalation of the Cold War,” in Melvyn Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, The Cambridge History of the Cold War, Volume 1 (Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 376-397 (N)
- Midterm study guide handed out in class
Oct 10. The U.S.-Soviet arms race & midterm preparation
- No readings; work on preparing for the midterm
Recommended readings (not required)
- David Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb: The Soviet Union and Atomic Energy, 1939-1956 (Yale University Press, 1994), Chapters 11-16
- Gerard J. DeGroot, 2005. The Bomb: A Life (Harvard University Press, 2005), Chapter 10
- Joseph M. Siracusa, Nuclear Weapons: A Very Short Introduction, Chapter 6: "Star Wars," pp. 82-107
- Thomas Schelling, Arms and Influence, Chapter 7 (available electronically)
Midterm and fall break
Oct. 14 (Monday). Midterm Review Session, 7:00-8:00pm in the Red Pit
Oct. 15. Midterm exam in class
Oct. 17: No class (Fall recess)
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Oct. 21 (Monday): Film Screening: War Game, w/ Ty Seidule, 6:30-9:30pm
- Taylor Science Center, Kennedy Auditorium. Reception (6:30-7:00pm), screening (7:00-8:30pm), and discussion (8:30-9:30pm)
Oct. 22 Cuban Missile Crisis #1 (slides)
- Serhii Plokhy, Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis (WW Norton & Company, 2021), Chapters 1-14 (pp. 1-186)
Oct. 24. Cuban Missile Crisis #2 (see slides above)
- Serhii Plokhy, Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis (WW Norton & Company, 2021), Chapters 15-Epilogue (187-365)
Recommended readings (not required)
- Marc Trachtenberg, “The Influence of Nuclear Weapons in the Cuban Missile Crisis,” International Security 10, no. 1 (1985): 137–163
- Graham Allison, "The Cuban Missile Crisis at 60," Arms Control Today 52, no. 8 (2022): 38-40
- Robert S. Norris and Hans M, Kristensen, "The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Nuclear Order of Battle, October and November 1962," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 68, no. 6 (2012): 85-91
- Sergey Radchenko, "The Cuban Missile Crisis: Assessment of New, Old, and Russian Sources," International Relations 26, no. 3 (2012): 327-342
Citizens and leaders
Oct. 29. Citizenship in a nuclear age (slides)
- Sarah E. Robey, Atomic Americans: Citizens in a Nuclear State (Cornell University Press, 2022), 1-40, 171-178 (N)
- Michael Scheibach, ed., “In Case Bombs Fall”: An Anthology of Governmental Explanations, Instructions and Warnings from the 1940s to the 1960s, pp. 39-45, 53-54, 88-91, 61-64, 108-110, 162-166
Oct. 31. **Class cancelled due to illness
Nov. 5. Leadership and nuclear choices (slides)
- Rachel Elizabeth Whitlark, All Options On The Table (Cornell University Press, 2021), Chapter 1 (N)
- Todd S. Sechser, and Matthew Fuhrmann, “The Madman Myth: Trump and the Bomb,” The International Security Studies Forum 22, no. 201 (2017): 1-9 (N)
- Michael Lewis, “Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House,” Vanity Fair, September 2017
- Caitlin Talmadge, "How Would Trump and Biden Handle US Nuclear Policy Upon Reelection?," Brookings Institution, July 8, 2024
Recommended readings (not required)
- Kristen Iversen, Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats (Broadway, 2013), and trailer
- Elizabeth N. Saunders, “The Domestic Politics of Nuclear Choices—A Review Essay,” International Security 44, no. 2. (2019): 146-184
- Reid BC Pauly, “Would US Leaders Push the Button? Wargames and the Sources of Nuclear Restraint,” International Security 43, no. 2 (2018): 151-192
Understanding anti-nuclear activism
Nov. 7. Race and anti-nuclear activism (slides)
- Vincent Intondi, “Chapter 3: Links in the Same Chain: Civil Rights, Anticolonialism, and the Bomb in Africa,” in African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2015), pp. 45-62 (N)
- Dan Zak, “The Prophets of Oak Ridge,” Washington Post, April 30, 2013
Nov. 11 (Monday): Film Screening: Dr. Strangelove, 7:00-9:00pm
- If you cannot attend, watch the film on your own before class (1hr 35mins long). Here's the link to stream it.
Nov. 12. Feminist perspectives on nuclear weapons (slides)
- Carol Cohn, “Sex and Death in the Rational World of Defense Intellectuals,” Signs 12, no. 4 (1987): 687-718 (N)
- Eric Schlosser, “Almost Everything in 'Dr. Strangelove' Was True,” The New Yorker, January 17, 2014 (N)
Recommended readings (not required)
- Ray Acheson, Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy, Introduction & Chapter 1
- Mariana Budjeryn and Togzhan Kassenova, “Nuclear Shades of Red Racism,” Inkstick.com, September 24, 2020
- Elisabeth Roehrlich, “The Cold War, the Developing World, and the Creation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 1953-1957,” Cold War History 16, no. 2 (2016): 195-212
- Abby J. Kinchy, “African Americans in the Atomic Age: Postwar Perspectives on Race and the Bomb, 1945–1967,” Technology and Culture 50, no. 2 (2009): 291-315
- David S. Meyer, “How the Cold War Was Really Won: The Effects of the Antinuclear Movements of the 1980s,” How Social Movements Matter, edited by Marco Giugni, Doug McAdam, and Charles Tilly (University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 182-203 (N)
- Roger S. Powers and William B. Vogele, “Nuclear Weapons Opposition,” in Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women’s Suffrage (Garland Publishing, 1997), 377-384.
- Shine Choi and Catherine Eschle, "Rethinking Global Nuclear Politics, Rethinking Feminism," International Affairs 98, no. 4 (2022):1129-1147
- Catherine Eschele, “Gender and the Subject of (Anti-)Nuclear Politics: Revisiting Women’s Campaigning against the Bomb,” International Studies Quarterly 57, no. 4 (2013): 713-724
- Feminist anti-nuclear organization websites: Gender + Radiation Impact Project, WILPF
The challenges of nuclear command and control
Nov. 14. Could terrorists acquire nuclear weapons? (slides)
- John Mueller, Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to al-Qaeda (Oxford University Press, 2010), Chapters 12-15 (pp. 161-233) (N)
Recommended readings (not required)
- Congressional Research Service, “Defense Primer: Command and Control of Nuclear Forces,” November 19, 2022
- Union of Concerned Scientists, “Fact Sheet: Close Calls with Nuclear Weapons,” April 2015
- RadioLab, “Nukes,” https://www.radiolab.org/episodes/nukes
- Eric Schlosser, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, The Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety (Penguin Random House, 2014)
Learning by teaching projects
Nov. 19. Working on learning by teaching projects in class
Nov. 21. Working on learning by teaching projects in class
*Submit: Learning by teaching project, Friday, November 22, by 3:59pm
Nov. 25-29. Thanksgiving break
Arms control
Dec. 3. Non-proliferation, disarmament, and sanctions (slides)
- Matthew Fuhrmann and Yonatan Lupu, “Do Arms Control Treaties Work? Assessing the Effectiveness of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” International Studies Quarterly 60, no. 3 (2016): 530-539 (N)
- Ulrich Kuhn and Heather Williams, “A New Approach to Arms Control: How to Safeguard Nuclear Weapons in an Era of Great Power Politics,” Foreign Affairs, June 14, 2-23
- Jasmine Owens, “The False Equivalency of Nuclear Disarmament and Nuclear Abolition,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 11, 2024
Dec. 5. The Iran Deal & its aftermath (slides)
- Rupal Mehta, “Chapter 5: Iran: Adversaries and Nuclear Reversal,” in Delaying Doomsday, pp. 152-179
- Arms Control Association, “The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action: An Effective, Verifiable Nuclear Deal,” February 2021
Recommended readings (not required)
- Nuclear Threat Initiative, “Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPNW)”
- George Bunn, Arms Control by Committee: Managing Negotiations with the Russians (Stanford University Press, 1992), “Chapter 4: The NPT: Banning Transfer of Nuclear Weapons Takes Two Decades,” pp 59-82
- Documentary, “The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons”
- Nuclear Threat Initiative Overview, “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)”
- Nicholas Miller, “The Secret Success of Nonproliferation Sanctions,” International Organization 68, no. 4 (2014): 913-944
Conclusions
Dec. 10. Living with our nuclear past and future (slides)
- John Hersey, "Hiroshima," New Yorker, 1946, Parts I-II, pp. 1-38
December 12: Conclusions, review for the final exam
- Hersey, "Hiroshima," Part III-IV, pp. 38-81 (*This is a difficult read, which includes some graphic descriptions of the effects of nuclear weapons)
*Final Exam: Wednesday, December 18, 2:00-4:00pm, KJ127
assignments
participation & nuclear notebook (15%)
You are expected to come to class having done all required readings, contribute to class discussion, and complete short, in-class writing assignments and reflections, as well as to attend the two film screenings for the course. As a component of your participation, you will keep a "nuclear notebook" in which you summarize readings marked with "N" on the syllabus. Reading summaries should contain a brief description of the reading's central arguments. In class, we will regularly draw upon your summaries. Be prepared to share your written summaries with the class. Here is a guide to how to read effectively in Political Science:
document analysis memo (20%)
In this assignment, you will work in small teams to evaluate competing explanations for the behavior of U.S. policymakers during the Berlin Crisis, 1958-1961. While American officials considered a limited nuclear strike against Soviet military targets, they ultimately decided not to pursue it. Debate remains over the factors shaped this decision. Each team will read a set of primary source documents and write a short memo that draws upon them to make an explicit argument about what considerations were foremost in the minds of American officials.
discussion leading (5%)
During most weeks of the semester, a small team of students will meet ahead of class to answer three questions about the readings: (1) What are the most important themes from the week's readings? (2) What arguments were most compelling, and why? Which were least compelling, and why? and (3) What questions did the readings raise that you felt were left unanswered, or would like to discuss with the class? The team will then give a 6-8 minute presentation of their thinking in class. This should not be a summary of the readings, but a thoughtful reflection on the topics raised in your discussion. You are strongly encouraged to send me draft slides before you present.
midterm exam (25%)
The in-class midterm will include multiple choice, fill-in-the blank, and short answer questions. A study guide will be provided in advance. The midterm exam will be closed-note, closed-book. If you are eligible for extra time on exams, I will reach out to you at least a week in advance to coordinate.
learning by teaching (15%)
You will select a set of related concepts, ideas, or arguments that you have learned from class this semester, and be tasked with teaching someone who did not take the class about them via the creative medium of your choosing (podcast, video, pamphlet, poem, etc). Your project should demonstrate substantial, creative effort. You can work with one or two other people in the course, if desired, or tackle the project on your own.
- Learning by Teaching Assignment (due Nov. 22nd)
final exam (20%)
The final exam will be a written, blue book exam, which asks you to synthesize information from readings, lectures, and class discussions across the semester to develop your own answers to central questions of the course. It will be held during our final exam slot in finals week.
important dates
October 6: Document analysis assingment due
October 15: Midterm exam
November 22: Learning by teaching project due
December 18: Final exam
frequently asked questions
you are encouraged to email me with any other questions you might have
What is the expected workload for this course?
Do I need to purchase required books directly from the Hamilton bookstore? Can I read earlier editions?
When and where are office hours?
What is the best way to get in touch with you?
I would like to do well on the discussion leading. Do you have any tips?
What are course policies on technology, late assignments, accomodations, etc?
What should I do if I'm feeling ill?
What should I do if I'm struggling in the course?
This course was supported by a course development grant from the Stanton Foundation and a Faculty Research and Innovation Award from the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton. Thank you to Clara Harding , Katie Mathis, and Madison Lazenby for excellent research and teaching assistance.