ideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control the

The Cold War was an unstable and overwrought period between the two after war superpowers; the United States of America and the former Soviet Union. All the way through this time of terror and fear there were quite a few occasions which served to radically move up pulses with both the East and West, but not any as much as those where weaponry of mass destruction were implicated.

Some of the most intense moments of the Cold War were due to the association with nuclear weapons. The threats of these new nuclear weapons of mass destruction are which caused the Cold War to nearly rise to boiling point and spill over into a hot war. The purpose of this essay is to explore what effects nuclear weapons had on the Cold War and the way it was subsequently conducted after their rise to the forefront of International Relations. In order to do this I will be exploring such areas as the development of nuclear weapons in the Arms Race, flashpoints involving nuclear weapons such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nuclear weapons first exploded onto the scene of both military and world politics in 1945 when the United Sates dropped the first atomic bomb on Japanese soil obliterating the city Hiroshima, followed by another being dropped on Nagasaki to end to the stalemate that WWII had become. The Japanese government subsequently had no choice but to surrender to the might of the west. The world had now witnessed the devastating affect of nuclear weapons and their awesome and destructive power. According to Lundestad (1999) the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese in 1945 was not solely to quickly end the war, but also to ‘underscore the power of the United States and thus, get the Soviet leaders to show greater consideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control them

r were due to the association with nuclear weapons. The threats of these new nuclear weapons of mass destruction are which caused the Cold War to nearly rise to boiling point and spill over into a hot war. The purpose of this essay is to explore what effects nuclear weapons had on the Cold War and the way it was subsequently conducted after their rise to the forefront of International Relations. In order to do this I will be exploring such areas as the development of nuclear weapons in the Arms Race, flashpoints involving nuclear weapons such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nuclear weapons first exploded onto the scene of both military and world politics in 1945 when the United Sates dropped the first atomic bomb on Japanese soil obliterating the city Hiroshima, followed by another being dropped on Nagasaki to end to the stalemate that WWII had become. The Japanese government subsequently had no choice but to surrender to the might of the west. The world had now witnessed the devastating affect of nuclear weapons and their awesome and destructive power. According to Lundestad (1999) the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese in 1945 was not solely to quickly end the war, but also to ‘underscore the power of the United States and thus, get the Soviet leaders to show greater consideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control the

ing such areas as the development of nuclear weapons in the Arms Race, flashpoints involving nuclear weapons such as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nuclear weapons first exploded onto the scene of both military and world politics in 1945 when the United Sates dropped the first atomic bomb on Japanese soil obliterating the city Hiroshima, followed by another being dropped on Nagasaki to end to the stalemate that WWII had become. The Japanese government subsequently had no choice but to surrender to the might of the west. The world had now witnessed the devastating affect of nuclear weapons and their awesome and destructive power. According to Lundestad (1999) the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese in 1945 was not solely to quickly end the war, but also to ‘underscore the power of the United States and thus, get the Soviet leaders to show greater consideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control the

Japanese government subsequently had no choice but to surrender to the might of the west. The world had now witnessed the devastating affect of nuclear weapons and their awesome and destructive power. According to Lundestad (1999) the use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese in 1945 was not solely to quickly end the war, but also to ‘underscore the power of the United States and thus, get the Soviet leaders to show greater consideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control the

ideration for US interests in International politics.’

The nuclear arms race can be argued to have began in 1941 when Roosevelt believed the US should increase research on the development of nuclear weapons for two reasons: ‘…the fear that Germany would be the first country to acquire such weapons’ and the fact that such weapons could be produced. Now that nuclear weapons had been witnessed, the question of how to control them subsequently arose, responsibility of which fell to the UN. The US set in motion a proposal known as the Baruch Plan in 1946 to control the use of nuclear weapons, the plan: ‘…would have placed nuclear weapons under international supervision.’ This was deemed as unacceptable by the USSR as they had not yet had the chance to test a nuclear explosion and were subsequently at a disadvantage to the US, and the idea of international supervision by a third party would go against the Soviet belief of isolation: ‘an international control system would violate the Soviet policy of seclusion from the rest of the world.’.