NATO, Britain, France and the FRG: Nuclear Strategies and Forces for Europe, 1949-2000

by B. Heuser

Overview

Containing the histories (from 1945 to the present) of the nuclear strategies of NATO, Britain and France, and of the defence preferences of the FRG (West Germany), this book shows how strategies were functions of a perceived Soviet threat and an American 'nuclear guarantee'. There were three options for West Europeans: a compromise with differing American needs in NATO, pursued by Britain and the FRG; national nuclear forces, developed by Britain and France; and projects for an independent European nuclear force.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312174989
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	09/03/1999
Edition description:	1997
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

BEATRICE HEUSER is a Senior Lecturer and has been at the Department of War Studies, King's College London, since 1991. She was educated at the Universities of London and Oxford, where she held a North Senior Scholarship at St John's College and a NATO Fellowship, and completed her DPhil in 1987. Since graduating, she has worked at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (Ebenhausen, Germany), and the University of Reims (France). She has held an SSRC-MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in International Peace and Security, and several other fellowships. She is the author of Western Containment Policies in the Cold War, and of Transatlantic Relations and the editor, with Robert O'Neill, of Securing Peace in Europe, 1945-1963 and (with Cyril Buffet) of Haunted by History: Myths in International Relations.

Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Western Europe between Soviet Threat and American Guarantee NATO's Nuclear Strategy: Compromises British Strategy: Inter-dependence French Strategy: Independence The Federal Republic of Germany: Consultation Projects for a European Nuclear Force Notes Index

Editorial Reviews

Offers brief histories of the nuclear strategies from the beginnings of the Cold War in relation to the perceived Soviet threat and European perceptions about the reliability of the US nuclear guarantee. Parallel and comparative analyses of the strategies indicate that US strategic preferences would shift considerably if it became vulnerable to Soviet nuclear reprisals, making Britain and France feel the need for their own nuclear forces, a position not available to West Germany. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

'...lively, well-organised and admirably researched...Any student of the subject's history can benefit from the comparison of national perspectives lucidly displayed.' - Sir Michael Quinlan

'Beatrice Heuser has given herself an audacious challenge by trying to present to a larger public the history of Western nuclear strategies. And she has succeeded.' - Admiral Marcel Duval, Défense Nationale

'This book is particularly interesting because Heuser was able to draw from NATO strategy-related documents of the 1950s and 1960s - until recently highly classified - and only declassified thanks to her and other academic researchers' initiative and persistence.' - Roberto Zadra, Nuclear Policy Section, NATO

'...a very ambitious book...convincing, authoritative...a great credit not only to Dr Heuser's linguistic skills but also to the thoroughness of her research...The next volume is eagerly awaited!' - Professor John Baylis, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

'This book condenses a very complex, sometimes confusing and oscillating story to an understandable, very readable, concise and excellent presentation.' - General Hans-Henning von Sandrart

'...a useful and detailed resource.' - R.E.Utley, Diplomacy & Statecraft

'...this book represents essential reading for the determined student of NATO Cold War nuclear strategy.' - Nigel Thomas, University of Northumbria at Newcastle

'This lively account, well organised andadmirably researched, surveys the development of nuclear doctrine in NATO and its key European members in a way that perceptively illuminates differing approaches and valuably corrects several standard political myths. Any student of the subject's history can benefit from the comparison of national perspectives lucidly displayed.' - Sir Michael Quinlan

'The new book by Beatrice Heuser is rich in subjects and reflection. She has given herself an audacious challenge by trying to present to a larger public the history of Western nuclear strategies. And she has succeeded...she is effectively a great 'strategist'.' - Admiral Marcel Duval, Defense Nationale

'This book is particularly interesting because Heuser was able to draw from NATO strategy-related documents of the 1950s and 1960s (such as MC 14/3 and MC 48/3) - until recently highly classified - and only declassified thanks to her and other academic researchers' initiative and persistence.' - Roberto Zadra, Nuclear Policy Section, NATO

'This is a very ambitious book. The fact that Dr Heuser is able to largely overcome the [difficulties of documentation] and produce a convincing, authoritative account of Western strategy is a great credit not only to her linguistic skills but also to the thoroughness of her research. She is probably one of a very small group of academics who could have written a book of this kind. ...The next volume is eagerly awaited!' - Professor John Baylis, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

'It is good that Beatrice Heuser has not only written a book on the history of NATO's nuclear strategy making but draws the lines further into the future as we have to live up to the fact that we live in the nuclear age whether we like it or not. ...This book condenses a very complex, sometimes confusing and oscillating story to an understandable, very readable, concise and excellent presentation.' - General Hans-Henning von Sandrart

From the Publisher