2008/06/01 by John Baylis · 9 citations
Social Sciences · Medicine · #Nuclear Issues and Defense #Risk Perception and Management #Science, Research, and Medicine #Negotiation #Political science #Nuclear weapon #Law and economics #Political economy #Law #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1080/01402390802024726
published in Journal of Strategic Studies 31(3), 425-466 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2008/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Written on the 50th anniversary, this article focuses on the negotiations between Britain and the United States which led to the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement and the beginning of the ‘special nuclear relationship’ which has lasted down to the present day. It is argued that the eventual success of the negotiations had a lot to do with the key roles of Eisenhower and Macmillan but that a transatlantic ‘advocacy coaltion’ of nuclear scientists, defence and intelligence officials also played an important part at the operational level in achieving and subsequently shaping the kind of relationship which developed. Attention is also given to the longer term significance of the agreement, especially in terms of the arguments about its impact on nuclear proliferation.