With the concept of 'Atomic Anxiety', this book offers a novel perspective on one of the most important and longstanding puzzles of international politics: the non-use of U.S. nuclear weapons. By focusing on the fear surrounding nuclear weapons, it explains why nuclear deterrence and the nuclear taboo are working at cross purposes in practice.

Atomic Anxiety is a groundbreaking work that rigorously takes to task long-standing explanations of nuclear non-use. The attention given to the importance of the collective fear of death en masse and the interplay of deterrence and the nuclear taboo make this a must-read for scholars of international relations and security studies. (Paige P. Cone, H-Net Reviews Humanities and Social Sciences, networks.h-net.org, October, 2018)

Sauer shed new light on a phenomenon (and on a country case) that has been explored already in detail and from different perspectives . Regarding research design, Sauer skilfully navigates between utilizing, criticizing and enriching the state of the art, and betweenmethodological reflexivity and pragmatism. Regarding theory building, his micro-level focus on individuals, as well as on emotions and fear in particular, opens up new perspectives for research on international norms and for International Relations in general. (Elvira Rosert, International Affairs, Vol. 92 (5), 2016)

Autorentext

Dr Frank Sauer is a Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at Bundeswehr University Munich, in Germany. His research focuses on international security, and he publishes on nuclear issues, cyber security, terrorism, arms control, and the growing use of unmanned and robotic systems by the military. He also advises political and military decision-makers on these matters.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Puzzling Non-use of U.S. Nuclear Weapons after 1945

2. Explaining Nuclear Non-use: Nuclear Deterrence, the Nuclear Taboo, the Tradition of Non-use and Identifying Causal Factors

3. Understanding Nuclear Non-use: Focusing on Meaning, Language and Agency

4. Revisiting Nuclear Non-use: The Cuban Missile Crisis, Presidential Language and the Study of Atomic Anxiety as a Key Emotion in International Politics

5. Conclusion: The Danger of Complacency in Nuclear Policy-making