Armageddon Insurance
Civil Defense in the United States and Soviet Union, 1945–1991
Seiten
2019
The University of North Carolina Press (Verlag)
978-1-4696-4525-4 (ISBN)
The University of North Carolina Press (Verlag)
978-1-4696-4525-4 (ISBN)
The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union begged a fundamental question: how did these superpowers plan to survive a nuclear strike? This account of Soviet civil defense and reappraisal of its American counterpart compares how the two superpowers tried, and mostly failed, to reinforce their societies to withstand the ultimate catastrophe.
The dangerous, decades-long arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War begged a fundamental question: how did these superpowers actually plan to survive a nuclear strike? In Armageddon Insurance, the first historical account of Soviet civil defense and a pioneering reappraisal of its American counterpart, Edward M. Geist compares how the two superpowers tried, and mostly failed, to reinforce their societies to withstand the ultimate catastrophe.
Drawing on previously unexamined documents from archives in America, Russia, and Ukraine, Geist places these civil defense programs in their political and cultural contexts, demonstrating how each country's efforts reflected its cultural preoccupations and blind spots, and revealing how American and Soviet civil defense related to profound issues of nuclear strategy and national values. This work challenges prevailing historical assumptions and unearths the ways Moscow and Washington developed nuclear weapons policies based not on rational strategic or technical considerations, but in power struggles between different institutions pursuing their own narrow self-interests.
The dangerous, decades-long arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War begged a fundamental question: how did these superpowers actually plan to survive a nuclear strike? In Armageddon Insurance, the first historical account of Soviet civil defense and a pioneering reappraisal of its American counterpart, Edward M. Geist compares how the two superpowers tried, and mostly failed, to reinforce their societies to withstand the ultimate catastrophe.
Drawing on previously unexamined documents from archives in America, Russia, and Ukraine, Geist places these civil defense programs in their political and cultural contexts, demonstrating how each country's efforts reflected its cultural preoccupations and blind spots, and revealing how American and Soviet civil defense related to profound issues of nuclear strategy and national values. This work challenges prevailing historical assumptions and unearths the ways Moscow and Washington developed nuclear weapons policies based not on rational strategic or technical considerations, but in power struggles between different institutions pursuing their own narrow self-interests.
Edward M. Geist is associate policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.
| Erscheinungsdatum | 05.11.2018 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | The New Cold War History |
| Zusatzinfo | 7 halftones, 3 tables |
| Verlagsort | Chapel Hill |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 155 x 233 mm |
| Gewicht | 545 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Europäische / Internationale Politik | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-4696-4525-4 / 1469645254 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-4696-4525-4 / 9781469645254 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
Mehr entdecken
aus dem Bereich
aus dem Bereich
die großen Jahre der Soziologie 1949-1969
Buch | Hardcover (2025)
Klett-Cotta (Verlag)
CHF 39,20
eine Deutschlandreise im Jahr 1958
Buch | Hardcover (2024)
C.H.Beck (Verlag)
CHF 29,90
