Nuclear Statecraft: Past, Present and Future

About the Event

FPRI's Study Group on America and the West Presents:

Francis J. Gavin

on Nuclear Statecraft: Past, Present and Future

We are at a critical juncture in world politics. Nuclear strategy and policy have risen to the top of the global policy agenda, and issues ranging from North Korea to a nuclear Iran to the global zero movement are generating sharp debate. The historical origins of our contemporary nuclear world are deeply consequential for contemporary policy, but it is crucial that decisions are made on the basis of fact rather than myth and misapprehension. In his recent book, Nuclear Statecraft (Cornell University Press, 2013), Francis J. Gavin has challenged key elements of the widely accepted narrative about the history of the atomic age and the consequences of the nuclear revolution. In case after case, Gavin's rigorous historical work has demonstrated that we know far less than we think we do about our nuclear history. Dr. Gavin will join us both to discuss his work, and to consider how better understanding the nuclear past will help guide our understanding of the problems of the present and future.

Francis J. Gavin is the Tom Slick Professor of International Affairs and the Director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas. Dr. Gavin holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Diplomatic History from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Studies in Modern European History from Oxford, and a B.A. in Political Science (with honors) from the University of Chicago. He is also the author of Gold, Dollars, and Power: The Politics of International Monetary Relations, 1958-1971 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007).

Registration

Open exclusively to university faculty and graduate students and FPRI Members at the Fellows Level ($1,000)

Reservations are required. RSVP: events@fpri.org

For more information contact 215 732 3774, ext 303 or events@fpri.org.

Speakers