The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger

by Jonathan Schell

From the bestselling author of The Fate of the Earth , a provocative look at the urgent threat posed by America's new nuclear policies
When the cold war ended, many Americans believed the nuclear dilemma had ended with it. Instead, the bomb has moved to the dead center of foreign policy and even domestic scandal. From missing WMDs to the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, nuclear matters are back on the front page.
In this provocative book, Jonathan Schell argues that a revolution in nuclear affairs has occurred under the watch of the Bush administration, including a historic embrace of a first-strike policy to combat proliferation. The administration has also encouraged a nuclear renaissance at home, with the development of new generations of such weaponry. Far from curbing nuclear buildup, Schell contends, our radical policy has provoked proliferation in Iran, North Korea, and elsewhere; exacerbated global trafficking in nuclear weapons; and taken the world into an era of unchecked nuclear terror. Incisive and passionately argued, The Seventh Decade offers essential insight into what may prove the most volatile decade of the nuclear age.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History

250 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Jeremiah Genest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather general and uninteresting view on the psychology of nulear arsenals.

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ignore the starry-eyed dumbness of the abolition of Nuclear Weapons

and enjoy the good parts of the book.....

Kenneth Waltz, was a realist with The Bomb, and i think had the right idea...

put your hopes in keeping the nuclear club small, but not too large or too small, since Game Theory points at the 'very scary' tipping points

But one just needs to accept the fact that other countries will eventually get the bomb, unless nations take really 'drastic measures', and one needs to think decades ahead, what if Country XX, does get the Bomb, then what do we do?

And why was policy G, so useless for 17 years, beforehand?

One plus is that most leaders ARE Rational Actors, and we just need to understand their political environment, and their internal and external threats to their security. And some of those people may want The Bomb.... because Bambi doesn't fare well, when you are surrounded by Godzillas.

(That idea is from John Mearsheimer)

So take the good and the bad in this book..........

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong showing by Jonathan Schell as he takes us on a tour of the history of the nuclear dilemma and examines where we are today. Very informative and eye-opening, both in terms of history and a better understanding of the Bush government's "American Empire" project. Though a strong case for abolition is made throughout it did not leave me hopeful regarding the change in political wills that would be necessary to even begin that process. Furthermore I think that Schell leaves out the role of corporate interests and the military industrial complex when he discusses the barriers. Overall a very important piece of work and pretty straight forward reading.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Schell's most recent book should be read along with Richard Rhodes' "Arsenals of Folly." Where Rhodes takes a "hard news" approach to the history of nuclear weapons, with a focus in his latest book on the history of disarmament efforts, Schell's agenda is broader, examining the psychology as well as the history of nuclear weapons, and he offers a conceptual road map to abolition of nuclear weapons. In the absence of an abolition movement such as the one that gained so much attention in the late 1970s and 1980s, Schell's book should inspire those who never knew or have forgotten how close we were to abolition twenty-some years ago.

[Barron · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Schell's thesis is basically that the existence of nuclear knowledge is global, so we can only combat it through Global Empire or Global Abolition. He says he admires George Bush for having the coherence, will, and fortitude to try for Global Empire, but it simply won't work in practice--so we have to try for Global Abolition."

-from my notes on it

[Maren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring: dry and exceptionally wordy. Run-on sentences and run-on ideas. Read like a textbook, only non-comprehensible... Too bad, had potential.

[Oswald · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accurate account of the state of the world in terms of nuclear weapons. This book serves as a warning about nuclear anarchy!