Word: nuclearization
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...double reality is that the arsenals cannot be abolished and that neither country can now build an effective defense of its homeland. For both governments, whatever their leaders may claim to hope, it is impossible to suppose that nuclear weaponry can be altogether abandoned," Bundy writes...
This notion of sane leadership that can make sate and necessary decisions about the bomb is integral to Bundy's position that complete nuclear disarmament is impossible...
...Bundy does believe in the neccesity of arms control agreements to reduce nuclear danger. Although he still asserts that both countries, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., must maintain a "deterrent balance" in order to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict, Bundy posits a need for "unilateral moderation" that can "save money and leave real parity intact...
MUCH of Bundy's language is in the mode of current foreign policy rhetoric. He uses the phrase "strategic survivability" to point to his belief that the nature of nuclear deterrent depends upon the characteristics--rather than the amount--of nuclear warheads. His thinking is slightly reminiscent of Reagan's "peace through strength" motto that asserts the need for an offensive system so powerful that it deters a first-strike attack. But the clear difference is that Bundy does not propose a widespread build-up, but rather "enough" on both sides so that neither nation can knock the other...
Aside from these current issues, most of Bundy's book addresses the high-level decisions that led to the present global nuclear situation. His explanations are thorough and readily accessable to the uninformed reader. From Roosevelt and Truman's earliest decisions to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Bundy challenges old and recent theories answering the why and how of these events...