1:25-3:20P  R  WH 205

This seminar will deal with ways in which force and diplomacy have been
used to insure national security and promote national interests in the
nuclear age. Specific topics may include the decisions to develop and
employ the first atomic bomb; the role of force and diplomacy in the
origins of the Cold War; the beginning and escalation of the nuclear arms
race; the role of nuclear weapons in the defense of Europe; the causes of
and lessons learned from the Cuban Missile Crisis; the rise and results of
dtente; the process, achievements, and future of arms control; and efforts
to deal with the legacy of the nuclear arms race-the problems of nuclear
proliferation, environmental damage, and safety in the post-Cold War
world.

Weekly reading will be 50-60 pages, including many original source
documents (memoirs, letters, speeches) and news articles from the past and
present, as well as scholars' discussions of the issues. Writing
assignments will total approximately 20-25 pages. There will be a midterm
and a final.