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Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late
There is a high risk that someone will use, by accident or design, one or more of the 17,000 nuclear weapons in the world today. Many thought such threats ended with the Cold War or that current policies can prevent or contain nuclear disaster. They are dead wrong -- these weapons, possessed by states large and small, stable and unstable, remain an ongoing nightmare.
Joe Cirincione surveys the best thinking and worst fears of experts specializing in nuclear warfare and assesses the efforts to reduce or eliminate these nuclear dangers. His book offers hope: in the 1960s, twenty-three states had nuclear weapons and research programs; today, only ten states have weapons or are seeking them. More countries have abandoned nuclear weapon programs than have developed them, and global arsenals are just one-quarter of what they were during the Cold War. Yet can these trends continue, or are we on the brink of a new arms race -- or worse, nuclear war? A former member of President Obama's nuclear policy team, Cirincione helped shape the policies unveiled in Prague in 2009, and, as president of an organization intent on reducing nuclear threats, he operates at the center of debates on nuclear terrorism, new nuclear nations, and the risks of existing arsenals.
Joe Cirincione surveys the best thinking and worst fears of experts specializing in nuclear warfare and assesses the efforts to reduce or eliminate these nuclear dangers. His book offers hope: in the 1960s, twenty-three states had nuclear weapons and research programs; today, only ten states have weapons or are seeking them. More countries have abandoned nuclear weapon programs than have developed them, and global arsenals are just one-quarter of what they were during the Cold War. Yet can these trends continue, or are we on the brink of a new arms race -- or worse, nuclear war? A former member of President Obama's nuclear policy team, Cirincione helped shape the policies unveiled in Prague in 2009, and, as president of an organization intent on reducing nuclear threats, he operates at the center of debates on nuclear terrorism, new nuclear nations, and the risks of existing arsenals.
280 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 2013
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129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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April 21, 2018North Korea says it's suspending nuclear & missile tests
North Korea says the country has suspended its nuclear program and does not plan any more nuclear or missile tests. Trump responds saying that progress is being made.
July 25, 2013
For a child growing up as a teenager in the early 1980s in Europe, there was a real fear of nuclear war developing in the very near future. Fortunately the doomsday clock stopped in time yet there is still a fear amongst many that someone will use, by accident or design, one or more of the 17,000 known of nuclear weapons in the world today.
Presently (at the time of writing) various "rogue states" such as Iran or North Korea are being talked up as the next big nuclear threat, although civilian nuclear power stations are not proving themselves to be entirely and totally free from problems either. Are we living on borrowed time? Whether it is a planned nuclear weapon detonation or an unplanned meltdown at a civilian nuclear power station, it still would be a catastrophic development that would potentially impact a large part of the world.
This book focuses on nuclear weaponry although many of the same fears and concerns remain in civilian nuclear programmes. Interest in having nuclear weaponry in a country's arsenal seems to be waning, at least by the major powers, but no-one wants to be the first to blink and remove all of their nuclear weapons capabilities. At the same time some smaller countries are seeking "nuclear parity", perhaps as an insurance policy. It only takes one explosion and...
Compared to the height of the Cold War, current global known stocks of nuclear weaponry is "just" a quarter today! But what does the future hold..? The author, a former member of President Obama's nuclear policy team and presently president of an organisation intent on reducing nuclear threats, presents an interesting, balanced look at the current nuclear status quo in an academically-focussed book. From promises, history and legacies through to the stuff "nightmares are made of" and a range of possible solutions, this book manages to provoke much thought on a subject that the average reader might wish could be hidden under a metaphorical cushion and out of sight.
To a relative, interested outsider, the figures bandied about casually are hard to realise. If there are about 17,000 known nuclear weapons in the world, with 95 percent of them being owned by the United States and Russia, this means that "others" have only 850 units. New treaties limit the United States and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed warheads each over time, achieved through decommissioning. The potential for global carnage, even if only one in ten warheads met their objective, should surely have even the most hardened, war-friendly hawk to have a cold shiver down their back. And as stated, it only takes one bomb (or less) to start a war.
This is a heavy-going book due in part to the nature of the subject and its relatively technical, detailed focus. An academic studying this subject will find much of interest here, backed up by a wealth of references and further reading sources. The curious, intrigued "amateur reader" will have their eyes well and truly widened in the process, even if some of the material presented feels esoteric or goes "over their head". A number of solutions or opinions are given at the end, but to be frank no-one pretends to know all of the answers. Hopefully a consensus of sorts will keep the peace for as long as possible.
In many ways this is a difficult book to review and recommend. It will not necessarily change your opinions but it may help sharpen them or give additional validation to them. One thing is guaranteed - you probably will be thinking about this subject in a much deeper, focussed light afterwards (unless you spend your days already doing that!).
Nuclear Nightmares, written by Joseph Cirincione and published by Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231164047, 256 pages. Typical price: USD26.95. YYYY.
Presently (at the time of writing) various "rogue states" such as Iran or North Korea are being talked up as the next big nuclear threat, although civilian nuclear power stations are not proving themselves to be entirely and totally free from problems either. Are we living on borrowed time? Whether it is a planned nuclear weapon detonation or an unplanned meltdown at a civilian nuclear power station, it still would be a catastrophic development that would potentially impact a large part of the world.
This book focuses on nuclear weaponry although many of the same fears and concerns remain in civilian nuclear programmes. Interest in having nuclear weaponry in a country's arsenal seems to be waning, at least by the major powers, but no-one wants to be the first to blink and remove all of their nuclear weapons capabilities. At the same time some smaller countries are seeking "nuclear parity", perhaps as an insurance policy. It only takes one explosion and...
Compared to the height of the Cold War, current global known stocks of nuclear weaponry is "just" a quarter today! But what does the future hold..? The author, a former member of President Obama's nuclear policy team and presently president of an organisation intent on reducing nuclear threats, presents an interesting, balanced look at the current nuclear status quo in an academically-focussed book. From promises, history and legacies through to the stuff "nightmares are made of" and a range of possible solutions, this book manages to provoke much thought on a subject that the average reader might wish could be hidden under a metaphorical cushion and out of sight.
To a relative, interested outsider, the figures bandied about casually are hard to realise. If there are about 17,000 known nuclear weapons in the world, with 95 percent of them being owned by the United States and Russia, this means that "others" have only 850 units. New treaties limit the United States and Russia to no more than 1,550 deployed warheads each over time, achieved through decommissioning. The potential for global carnage, even if only one in ten warheads met their objective, should surely have even the most hardened, war-friendly hawk to have a cold shiver down their back. And as stated, it only takes one bomb (or less) to start a war.
This is a heavy-going book due in part to the nature of the subject and its relatively technical, detailed focus. An academic studying this subject will find much of interest here, backed up by a wealth of references and further reading sources. The curious, intrigued "amateur reader" will have their eyes well and truly widened in the process, even if some of the material presented feels esoteric or goes "over their head". A number of solutions or opinions are given at the end, but to be frank no-one pretends to know all of the answers. Hopefully a consensus of sorts will keep the peace for as long as possible.
In many ways this is a difficult book to review and recommend. It will not necessarily change your opinions but it may help sharpen them or give additional validation to them. One thing is guaranteed - you probably will be thinking about this subject in a much deeper, focussed light afterwards (unless you spend your days already doing that!).
Nuclear Nightmares, written by Joseph Cirincione and published by Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231164047, 256 pages. Typical price: USD26.95. YYYY.
September 21, 2025
This book was interesting in the beginning. However, once I got further into the book, it became repetitive and unfocused. The author provider many numbers relating to the number of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, these numbers were provided in a jumble of years, jumping back and forth to the point of being confusing. Some context would have been helpful in these situations. Also, by shortening chapter six considerably, organizing the discussion by dat, and combining it with chapter seven, it had the potential of being informative. As a result, I ended up not finishing the book.
September 22, 2019
An excellent overview of a dangerous problem and the people that are working tirelessly to mitigate the nuclear risk. It's from 2015, so it doesn't cover the current US administration and lack of leadership.
July 9, 2015
An insiders view of this important issue.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews