India's Nuclear Bomb; The Impact on Global Proliferation

Berkeley, CA: University of CA Press, 1999. First Edition. First Printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. xiii, [1], 597, [5] pages. Illustrations. Map. Notes. Index. Publisher's ephemera laid in. Several page corners bent, pencil underlining on several pages. Inscribed on the front free endpaper by the author (George Perkovich) to Ambassador Oakley. The inscription reads: "Dear Ambassador Oakley, You helped in the writing of this book more than you know-not only your comments on drafts, but also your years of candid, friendly conversation provided much value to me. Knowing that the insights came from someone with such a distinguished career was strongly encouraging to me. Thank you very much. Respectfully, George, 11/4/99". Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Chair
Vice President for Studies of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Perkovich works primarily on nuclear strategy and nonproliferation issues; cyberconflict; and new approaches to international public-private management of strategic technologies. The definitive, comprehensive history of how the world's largest democracy has grappled with the twin desires to have and to renounce the bomb. Each chapter contains significant historical revelations drawn from scores of interviews with India's key scientists, military leaders, diplomats, and politicians, and from declassified U.S. government documents and interviews with U.S. officials. In 1998, India shocked the world by detonating five nuclear devices. Why did India bid for nuclear weapon status at a time when 149 nations had signed a ban on nuclear testing? What drove India's new nationalist government to depart from decades of nuclear restraint? How has U.S. nonproliferation policy affected India's decision making? India's nuclear history challenges leading theories of why nations pursue and hang onto nuclear weapons, raising important questions for international relations theory and security studies. So, too, the blasts in Rajasthan have shaken the foundations of the international nonproliferation system.