Dangerous Ground

by Ritter, Scott

• ISBN13: 9781568583990
• ISBN10: 1568583990
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-30
• Publisher: PublicAffairs

Summary

"The United States, President Obama will come to discover, is a nation addicted to nuclear weapons and the power and prestige, both real and illusory, that these weapons bring. Breaking this addiction will prove extremely difficult. This is especially true given the lack of any real nuclear disarmament policy being in place since the dawn of the nuclear age. The failure of the United States to formulate or implement effective nuclear disarmament policy has placed America and the world on very dangerous ground. The longer America and the world continue to possess nuclear weapons, the greater the likelihood of the nuclear weapons being used. The only way to prevent such a dire outcome is through the abolition, and not reduction or control, of all nuclear weapons.

Author Biography

Scott Ritter is an intelligence specialist with a distinguished career in government service. From 1984 to 1996 he was an intelligence officer for the U.S. Marine Corps, where he was assigned to some of the world’s most troubled regions, including the Middle East and the former Soviet Union. As a chief weapons inspector for the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, he was in charge of searching out weapons of mass destruction within Iraq. His previous books include Iraq Confidential and, most recently, Target Iran. He lives in Delmar, New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Glossary of Terms	p. xiii
Introduction: Prague Spring, Redux	p. xix
Prologue: Missile Crisis	p. 1
The Genie Escapes	p. 13
Red Scare Myths	p. 31
Massive Retaliation	p. 51
Missile Gaps	p. 65
SIOP Versus "Big Ivan"	p. 81
On the Edge of the Nuclear Abyss	p. 103
Unfulfilled Promises: The Limited Test Ban Treaty and Nonproliferation	p. 119
Missed Opportunities	p. 141
Peace Through Strength	p. 167
The End of Détente	p. 191
The Cold War Begins Anew	p. 215
Three Minutes Until Midnight	p. 247
The Triumph of Reason	p. 271
Neglect and Decay	p. 303
The End of Arms Control	p. 339
Conclusion: Toward a Nuclear Weapons-Free World	p. 367
Acknowledgments	p. 385
Notes	p. 387
Index	p. 419
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