The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity

Baylis, John; Stoddart, Kristan

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001

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The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity

John Baylis, Kristan Stoddart

Swansea University Author: John Baylis

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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001

Abstract

This book has two major objectives. First, it sets out to chart in detail the British experience with nuclear weapons from the Second World War down to the present day, including the contemporary debate about the future of Trident. There are numerous excellent studies that provide a history of Briti...

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ISBN:	978-0198702023 9780191771682
ISSN:	0140-2390 1743-937X
Published:	Oxford Oxford University Press 2015
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa2301
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first_indexed	2013-07-23T11:50:57Z
last_indexed	2021-07-16T02:15:50Z
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fullrecord	<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2021-07-15T14:33:36.5015968</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>2301</id><entry>2011-10-01</entry><title>The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>e6682c256f7dffaeda14ef4f791232ea</sid><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Baylis</surname><name>John Baylis</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2011-10-01</date><deptcode>FGSEN</deptcode><abstract>This book has two major objectives. First, it sets out to chart in detail the British experience with nuclear weapons from the Second World War down to the present day, including the contemporary debate about the future of Trident. There are numerous excellent studies that provide a history of British nuclear policy in particular periods since 1945, but none covers the development of nuclear policy and strategic doctrine over the period as a whole. The second objective is to analyse Britain’s nuclear experience by moving away from traditional interpretations of why states develop and maintain nuclear weapons by adopting a more contemporary approach to political theory. Traditional mainstream explanations tend to stress the importance of factors such as ‘the maximization of power’, the pursuit of ‘national security interests’, and also the role of ‘structure’ in a largely anarchic international system. This book does not dismiss these approaches, but it is argued that the British experience suggests that focusing on ‘beliefs’, ‘culture’, and ‘identity’ provides a more useful insight into the process of British nuclear decision-making than the more traditional approaches. The book concludes by arguing that the nuclear ‘habit of mind’ is so well entrenched amongst the political and military elite in Britain and a supporting ‘nuclear advocacy coalition’ that there will need to be an extraordinary change in the ‘beliefs’ of this elite for Britain to give up its continuing commitment to maintaining nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee of the nation’s national security and political identity.</abstract><type>Book</type><journal/><volume/><journalNumber/><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher>Oxford University Press</publisher><placeOfPublication>Oxford</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint>978-0198702023</isbnPrint><isbnElectronic>9780191771682</isbnElectronic><issnPrint>0140-2390</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1743-937X</issnElectronic><keywords>British nuclear experience, beliefs, Culture, Identity, Decision-making, nuclear advocacy coalition, Nuclear weapons, Government policy Great Britain, History, Military other, technology and engineering military science, politics and government</keywords><publishedDay>31</publishedDay><publishedMonth>12</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2015</publishedYear><publishedDate>2015-12-31</publishedDate><doi>10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001</doi><url>https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001/acprof-9780198702023</url><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Science and Engineering - Faculty</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>FGSEN</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><lastEdited>2021-07-15T14:33:36.5015968</lastEdited><Created>2011-10-01T00:00:00.0000000</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations</level></path><authors><author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Baylis</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Kristan</firstname><surname>Stoddart</surname><order>2</order></author></authors><documents/><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling	2021-07-15T14:33:36.5015968 v2 2301 2011-10-01 The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity e6682c256f7dffaeda14ef4f791232ea John Baylis John Baylis true false 2011-10-01 FGSEN This book has two major objectives. First, it sets out to chart in detail the British experience with nuclear weapons from the Second World War down to the present day, including the contemporary debate about the future of Trident. There are numerous excellent studies that provide a history of British nuclear policy in particular periods since 1945, but none covers the development of nuclear policy and strategic doctrine over the period as a whole. The second objective is to analyse Britain’s nuclear experience by moving away from traditional interpretations of why states develop and maintain nuclear weapons by adopting a more contemporary approach to political theory. Traditional mainstream explanations tend to stress the importance of factors such as ‘the maximization of power’, the pursuit of ‘national security interests’, and also the role of ‘structure’ in a largely anarchic international system. This book does not dismiss these approaches, but it is argued that the British experience suggests that focusing on ‘beliefs’, ‘culture’, and ‘identity’ provides a more useful insight into the process of British nuclear decision-making than the more traditional approaches. The book concludes by arguing that the nuclear ‘habit of mind’ is so well entrenched amongst the political and military elite in Britain and a supporting ‘nuclear advocacy coalition’ that there will need to be an extraordinary change in the ‘beliefs’ of this elite for Britain to give up its continuing commitment to maintaining nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee of the nation’s national security and political identity. Book Oxford University Press Oxford 978-0198702023 9780191771682 0140-2390 1743-937X British nuclear experience, beliefs, Culture, Identity, Decision-making, nuclear advocacy coalition, Nuclear weapons, Government policy Great Britain, History, Military other, technology and engineering military science, politics and government 31 12 2015 2015-12-31 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001 https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001/acprof-9780198702023 COLLEGE NANME Science and Engineering - Faculty COLLEGE CODE FGSEN Swansea University 2021-07-15T14:33:36.5015968 2011-10-01T00:00:00.0000000 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations John Baylis 1 Kristan Stoddart 2
title	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
spellingShingle	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity John Baylis
title_short	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
title_full	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
title_fullStr	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
title_full_unstemmed	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
title_sort	The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity
author_id_str_mv	e6682c256f7dffaeda14ef4f791232ea
author_id_fullname_str_mv	e6682c256f7dffaeda14ef4f791232ea_***_John Baylis
author	John Baylis
author2	John Baylis Kristan Stoddart
format	Book
publishDate	2015
institution	Swansea University
isbn	978-0198702023 9780191771682
issn	0140-2390 1743-937X
doi_str_mv	10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001
publisher	Oxford University Press
college_str	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str	School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - Politics, Philosophy and International Relations
url	https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198702023.001.0001/acprof-9780198702023
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description	This book has two major objectives. First, it sets out to chart in detail the British experience with nuclear weapons from the Second World War down to the present day, including the contemporary debate about the future of Trident. There are numerous excellent studies that provide a history of British nuclear policy in particular periods since 1945, but none covers the development of nuclear policy and strategic doctrine over the period as a whole. The second objective is to analyse Britain’s nuclear experience by moving away from traditional interpretations of why states develop and maintain nuclear weapons by adopting a more contemporary approach to political theory. Traditional mainstream explanations tend to stress the importance of factors such as ‘the maximization of power’, the pursuit of ‘national security interests’, and also the role of ‘structure’ in a largely anarchic international system. This book does not dismiss these approaches, but it is argued that the British experience suggests that focusing on ‘beliefs’, ‘culture’, and ‘identity’ provides a more useful insight into the process of British nuclear decision-making than the more traditional approaches. The book concludes by arguing that the nuclear ‘habit of mind’ is so well entrenched amongst the political and military elite in Britain and a supporting ‘nuclear advocacy coalition’ that there will need to be an extraordinary change in the ‘beliefs’ of this elite for Britain to give up its continuing commitment to maintaining nuclear weapons as the ultimate guarantee of the nation’s national security and political identity.
published_date	2015-12-31T03:05:31Z
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score	11.013395

The British Nuclear Experience: The Role of Beliefs, Culture and Identity

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