Atomic Backfires - When Nuclear Policies Fail

A sobering edited volume on how efforts to reduce nuclear weapons dangers may sometimes wind up exacerbating them. The existential risks posed to the world by nuclear weapons are growing. Efforts to halt nuclear proliferation, manage crises, promote arms control, and build alliances are all considered fundamental to reducing the likelihood of nuclear catastrophe. Yet, no tool is guaranteed to succeed and some may even have unanticipated, counterproductive consequences for international security. In a field fixated on finding solutions,

About the author

Stephen Herzog is Professor of the Practice at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is also Associate of the Project on Managing the Atom of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Giles David Arceneaux is Assistant Professor at the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Howard H. Baker Jr. School for Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee.

Ariel F. W. Petrovics is Assistant Research Scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She is also Non-resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Product details

• Authors: Giles David Arceneau, Karin Doering-Froger, Herz, Stephen Herzog, A Petrovi, Ariel F. W. Petrovi
• Assisted by: Karin Doering-Froger (Illustration), Giles David Arceneau (Editor), Stephen Herzog (Editor), Ariel F. W. Petrovi (Editor)
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 16.12.2025
• EAN: 9780262051859
• ISBN: 978-0-262-05185-9
• No. of pages: 448
• Series: Belfer Center Studies in International Security
• Subjects: POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, military history, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Military Policy, HISTORY / Military / Nuclear Warfare, International Relations, Warfare & defence, Warfare and defence, Nuclear weapons, Central / national / federal government policies, Central government policies