Description:
As director of the CIA during the Carter administration and former four-star admiral of the Navy, Stansfield Turner is intimately acquainted with the realities of nuclear weapons from a military, political, and ideological perspective. It is precisely these experiences that persuaded him to boldly call for a severe reduction of such armaments. Though Cold War tensions have thawed, the deadly instruments of deterrence remain in droves, with the combined nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia containing more than 35,000 warheads. These weapons may no longer be aimed at the enemies for which they were originally produced, but the sheer numbers raise concerns of theft, sale, accidents, terrorism, and proliferation. In offering specific disarmament proposals that are as pragmatic as they are optimistic, Turner writes clearly and convincingly on three main points: a policy of "strategic escrow" in which warheads are stored in secure areas a good distance from their launchers, signed treaties pledging no first use of nuclear weapons, and greater emphasis on safety inspections and nuclear defense. He also stresses the importance of an informed and motivated public in dealing with this long-ignored issue. Though the decisions regarding the numbers of weapons created and their possible deployment were reached in secret meetings at the Pentagon, the results of the decisions affect every person on earth. Turner believes that only sustained public pressure can initiate such policies in a timely manner, and Caging the Nuclear Genie serves as an informed motivator for such action.
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