The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence (Paperback)

~ Francis Anthony Boyle (Author), Philip Berrigan (Author) "With the Reagan/Bush administrations' ascent to power in January of 1981, the people of the world witnessed a government in the United States of America..." (more)
Key Phrases: humanitarian armed conflict, delivery vehicle launchers, acknowledged nuclear weapons states, Soviet Union, World Court, International Court of Justice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

As the U.S. War on Terrorism hurtles into uncharted waters, challenging accepted norms of international law and setting a pattern for peremptory state behavior, could a nuclear strike against a non-nuclear "rogue state" become an American option? Could conflicts between other nuclear states such as India and Pakistan go nuclear?

The Clinton Administration’s Presidential Decision Directive 60 asserted a U.S. right to target non-nuclear states with nuclear weapons in 1997. But PDD60, as well as nuclear deterrence as a whole -- both the use and threatened use of nuclear weapons -- is illegal under the international law of warfare.In fact, Francis A. Boyle argues in The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence, the Bush administration’s toying with the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Afghanistan, its intent to proceed with National Missile Defense, to renew nuclear testing and develop "bunker-busting" nuclear weapons will have disastrous impact on existing international efforts to rein in the global nuclear arms race through the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Already, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty has fallen before its scythe.

This book provides a succinct and detailed guide to understanding the arms race from Hiroshima/ Nagasaki through the SALT I, SALT II, ABM and START efforts at arms control, to Star Wars/National Missile Defense, U.S. unilateral abrogation of the ABM Treaty, and events in Afghanistan and beyond.

It clarifies the relevant international law, from the Hague Conventions through the Nuremberg Principles to the recent World Court Advisory Opinion, as well as tracing contradictions in and contraventions of domestic guidelines established in the U.S. Army Field Manual of 1956 on The Law of Land Warfare, which remains the official primer for U.S. military personnel concerning the laws of war to which they must regard themselves as subject.

More disturbingly, Boyle reviews the intricacies of the foreign policy controversies and objectives which mark the development of American nuclear policy, often pressed forward by civilian administrations seeking to promote their geopolitical agenda over the advice and desires of the American military itself.

This book is an effective tool and a "must read" for the burgeoning anti-nuclear and peace movements, church groups, and lawyers defending anti-nuclear resisters. It should also prove instructive for the diplomatic community, and for civilian and military personnel who frame and carry out America’s nuclear policies, who must weigh the possibility of being summoned one day before an international war crimes tribunal.

From the Publisher

This book is likely to be one of the most authoritative and significant books addressing the urgent issue of the renewed global nuclear arms race.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Clarity Press (April 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0932863337
• ISBN-13: 978-0932863331
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,226,709 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You should get this book, even if you truly believe that..., October 29, 2006

By	Said Huber (Schweiz) - See all my reviews

...using nuclear weapons in "anticipatory action" against a (non-nuclear) "rogue enemy" may be justified, since nukes are "safe for civilians"...

Boyle's masterpiece on "The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence" will provide you with all necessary information on the history of nuclear insanity and on the relevant international law (from the Hague Conventions through the Nürnberg Principles to the World Court Advisory Opinion). Boyle's easily accessible book confirms the invaluable work on the same topic done by leading peace activists, like Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, Prof. Jorge Hirsch, Dr. Helen Caldicott and others (see: [...]).

Beyond any reasonable doubt this book is a MUST READ for all human beings with something called "conscience". Hopefully also attorneys, judges, diplomats and all civilian and military personnel (who frame and carry out U.S. nuclear policies) will discover that precious jewel called "conscience" and read "The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence" - the title just says it!).

"The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence" would deserve 7* if a free DVD of "Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" was added.

Said Huber, attorney/Major of the Swiss Armed Forces (Military Supreme Court)

PS: to comprehend fully the GRAVITY of nuclear insanity, please study: Ismael Hossein-Zadeh, Political Economy of U.S. Militarism, Palgrave MacMillan 2006, 296 pages.