This thesis is an attempt to understand the role of nuclear weapons
in Britain's defence and foreign policies. It works from the assumption
that decisions in relation to nuclear weapons, can only be understood in
the context of a broader overview of the British state's policies since
the 1940's. In turn Britain's nuclear policies have made a decisive
impact on defence policy as a whole and have had an important effect on
international developments. It is hoped that this thesis will contribute
to a better-understanding of the causes and effects of the nuclear weapons
policies adopted by the UK since the 19401s.
The thesis will focus on the politics and political economy of
nuclear weapons and British defence policy. This central concern has
required that a number of other important aspects of the subject have been
given only peripheral consideration. The thesis does not attempt to
provide a detailed technological history of Britain's nuclear force. Nor
is it intended to provide particular new insights on the nuclear decisionmaking
process. Rather it seeks to explore the underlying factors which
have shaped both the technology and the perceptions of decision-makers.
There is no shortage of historical accounts of Britain's nuclear
force. The unique contribution which it is hoped that this thesis makes,
however, does not lie so much in its subject matter as in the way that
this subject matter is approached. In my view that approach is
sufficiently different from those of previous works in this area as to be
both original and of some interest to other scholars in this field.Rowntrees Memorial Trus
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