Atomic Backfires
When Nuclear Policies Fail
$100.20
- Paperback
448 pages
- Release Date
13 January 2026
Summary
A sobering edited volume on how efforts to reduce nuclear weapons dangers may sometimes wind up exacerbating them.
The existential risks posed to the world by nuclear weapons are growing. Efforts to halt nuclear proliferation, manage crises, promote arms control, and build alliances are all considered fundamental to reducing the likelihood of nuclear catastrophe. Yet, no tool is guaranteed to succeed and some may even have unanticipated, counterproductive consequences for internationa…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780262051859 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 0262051850 |
| Author: | Giles David Arceneau, Stephen Herzog |
| Publisher: | MIT Press Ltd |
| Imprint: | MIT Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 448 |
| Release Date: | 13 January 2026 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 235mm x 156mm |
| Series: | Belfer Center Studies in International Security |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
ENDORSEMENTS
“Atomic Backfires is the best of policy-relevant research from an all-star cast of the best new minds in the field. Its contributors use history and theory to identify past policy failures in order to avoid future mistakes in our dangerous new nuclear world.”
—Vipin Narang, Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security and Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Atomic Backfires offers provocative insights into the pitfalls of nuclear statecraft. As the challenges of the current nuclear age are becoming increasingly complex, and the stakes remain high, these lessons learned from past experiences could not be more timely.”
—Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, Professor of War Studies, King’s College London
“The impressive analyses in Atomic Backfires demonstrate that the road to hell in nuclear policy—from negotiating arms control to implementing economic sanctions to issuing military threats—is sometimes paved with good intentions. Leaders and analysts ignore these findings at their own peril.”
—Keir Lieber, Professor of Foreign Service and Government, Georgetown University
“The lively collection of essays edited by Herzog, Arceneaux, and Petrovics focuses on policies that help prevent nuclear war.”
—Foreign Affairs
About The Author
Giles David Arceneau
Stephen Herzog is Professor of Practice at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. He is also Associate of the Project on Managing the Atom at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Giles David Arceneaux is Assistant Professor at the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs of the Howard H. Baker Jr. School for Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee.
Ariel F. W. Petrovics is Assistant Research Scholar at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She is also Non-Resident Fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
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