/pdf/thinking-about-strategic-culture-3lbzwcwjsc.pdf

Thinking about Strategic Culture

Why have nuclear weapons not been used since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? Nina Tannenwald disputes the conventional answer of 'deterrence' in favour of what she calls a nuclear taboo - a widespread inhibition on using nuclear weapons - which has arisen in global politics. Drawing on newly released archival sources, Tannenwald traces the rise of the nuclear taboo, the forces that produced it, and its influence, particularly on US leaders. She analyzes four critical instances where US leaders considered using nuclear weapons (Japan 1945, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War 1991) and examines how the nuclear taboo has repeatedly dissuaded US and other world leaders from resorting to these 'ultimate weapons'. Through a systematic analysis, Tannenwald challenges conventional conceptions of deterrence and offers a compelling argument on the moral bases of nuclear restraint as well as an important insight into how nuclear war can be avoided in the future.

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The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945

In this article, we argue that the 2003 US/UK invasion and occupation of Iraq was a form of state crime and offer a criminological analysis of the event. First, we describe how the war on Iraq violated the UN Charter and international humanitarian law. Then, we provide a narrative analysis of the historical and contemporary origins of this crime through the lens of an integrated model for the study of organizational deviance that has proved useful in the analysis of a number of other upper-world crimes. A key part of our explanation of this war resides in the dynamics of America’s long-standing will to empire coupled with the imperial designs of neoconservative policy makers within the Bush administration.

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War, aggression and state crime: A criminological analysis of the invasion and occupation of Iraq

The character of Reagan's rhetoric and the response to it can be explained by its narrative form. The dominance of narrative in Reagan's discourse and the nature of the narrative form combine to differentiate the perspective of Reagan's supporters and his opponents. Three characteristics of narrative form—a story‐based truth, an emphasis on morality, and a grounding in common sense—explain the way in which narrative affects political judgment. The analysis reveals the power of narrative form and, in contrast to the assertions of some narrative theorists, its fragility and moral limitations.

Telling America's story: Narrative form and the Reagan presidency

Chapter 1. Fractures and Faultlines in the Global Political Economy Chapter 2. Integrating Atlantic Europe Chapter 3. America's Crusade in Asia and the Euro-Atlantic Rift Chapter 4. The Spectre of Social and Economic Democracy Chapter 5. Transnational Rivalries and the Neoliberal Turn Chapter 6. From Pinochet to the Reagan Doctrine Chapter 7. The Rapallo Syndrome and the Demise of the Soviet Union Chapter 8. America over Europe in the Balkans Crisis Chapter 9. The Rise of China as the New Contender Chapter 10. Energy Conflicts in the Post-Soviet Era Chapter 11. From Human Rights to the Global State of Emergency References Index

Robert Scheer

Papers

How the United States got involved in Vietnam

America after Nixon;: The age of the multinationals

Cuba: an American tragedy

The Pornography of Power