a modern reflection
“At the end of World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union emerged as the two strongest nations in the world and as exemplars of competing models of political economy. But it was a peculiar bipolarity. The U.S. was incontestably the most powerful nation on the earth. It alone possessed the atomic bomb. It alone possessed a navy that could project power across the oceans and an air force that could reach across the continents. The U.S. was also the richest nation in the world. It possessed two-thirds of the world's gold reserves and three-fourths of its invested capital. Its gross national product was three times that of the Soviet Union and five times that of the United Kingdom. Its wealth had grown enormously during the war while the Soviet Union had been devastated by the occupation by Nazi Germany. Around 27 million inhabitants of the U.S.S.R. died during World War II compared to about 400,000 Americans. The Germans ravished the agricultural economy of Soviet Russia and devastated its mining and transportation infrastructure. Compared to the U.S. in 1945, the Soviet Union was weak."
-Melvyn Leffler, Professor at University of Virginia, 2010
-Melvyn Leffler, Professor at University of Virginia, 2010
None of the aforementioned information was known by the U.S. between 1939 and 1963.
If the U.S. obtained this knowledge immediately after World War II, historians believe the atomic weapon may never have been built, and the Soviet Union would have been defeated quickly.
If the U.S. obtained this knowledge immediately after World War II, historians believe the atomic weapon may never have been built, and the Soviet Union would have been defeated quickly.
Lasting Impacts
After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. realized that its nuclear arsenal was, very possibly, the most dangerous thing on Earth.
The post-1960 consensus on nuclear weapons was that the U.S. had a responsibility to prevent nuclear world war and that in no context did a nation have the right to deploy weapons of mass destruction for the purpose of displaying of power and hegemony.
The production of nuclear weapons in the United States remains at a minimum. Non-proliferation and communication policies have replaced militaristic ones.
The production of nuclear weapons in the United States remains at a minimum. Non-proliferation and communication policies have replaced militaristic ones.
analysis
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