Nuclear Energy and Dominance: Some Interrelationships between Military and Civil Aspects of Nuclear Energy in U.S. Foreign Policy since 1945

Abstract

Skogmar, G. Nuclear Energy and Dominance: Some Interrelationships between Military and Civil Aspects of Nuclear Energy in U.S. Foreign Policy since 1945. Cooperation and Conflict, XV, 1980, 217-235.

Some features of the American dominance in the nuclear field are outlined. A basic point of departure is that the military and civil aspects of nuclear energy cannot be separated. American nuclear policy is seen as passing through successive stages with fundamental changes occurring around 1953, in the early sixties, and after the energy crisis in the seventies. The themes most fully discussed are the American deployment of nuclear weapons in Western Europe, the non-proliferation policy, and the control of the nuclear fuel market. One main conclusion is that the dimensions of non-proliferation and dominance/dependence in the energy field are closely intertwined.