By emphasising the role of nuclear issues, After Hiroshima, published in 2010, provides an original history of American policy in Asia between the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan and the escalation of the Vietnam War. Drawing on a wide range of documentary evidence, Matthew Jones charts the development of American nuclear strategy and the foreign policy problems it raised, as the United States both confronted China and attempted to win the friendship of an Asia emerging from colonial domination. In underlining American perceptions that Asian peoples saw the possible repeat use of nuclear weapons as a manifestation of Western attitudes of 'white superiority', he offers new insights into the links between racial sensitivities and the conduct of US policy, and a fresh interpretation of the transition in American strategy from massive retaliation to flexible response in the era spanned by the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Format:
CONTRIBUTORS: Matthew Jones
EAN: 9781107411487
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
PAGES:
WEIGHT: 680 g
HEIGHT: 229 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Cambridge University Press
DATE PUBLISHED: 2012-06-28
CITY:
GENRE: POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General
WIDTH: 152 cm
SPINE:
Book Themes:
Asia, United States of America, USA, Later 20th century c 1950 to c 1999, c 1950 to c 1959, c 1960 to c 1969, International relations, Nuclear weapons, History and Archaeology
Review of the hardback: 'The great strength of this empirically rich study lies in the important interconnections that it traces between two topics that scholars typically treat in isolation: race and nuclear strategy. … Matthew Jones has provided us with one of the most important books on U.S. policy toward early Cold War Asia in recent years.' Robert J. McMahon, Journal of Cold War Studies, Review of the hardback: '… After Hiroshima is authoritative, insightful, well crafted, and wise. It takes its place among the very few books that are essential reading on the subject of US nuclear strategy in Asia during the first two decades of the Cold War. That it is about, but not just about, the influence of race on that strategy is a testament to its author's fundamental honesty and apprehension of historical complexity.' Diplomatic History, Review of the hardback: 'Jones's study is an important contribution to the growing body of scholarship that explores the transnational connections between race and American foreign relations. Thoroughly researched, lucidly written, and judiciously argued, this exemplary book demonstrates the links between racial sensitivities and US national security policies during this perilous period of nuclear history.' Journal of Military History, Review of the hardback: '… an original and valuable study that adds a new dimension to our understanding of American strategy in Asia.' Marc Gallicchio, International Affairs, Review of the hardback: 'Matthew Jones's superb After Hiroshima: The United States, Race, and Nuclear Weapons in Asia, 1945–1965 joins a number of important books that have underscored the significance of race as a factor in American foreign relations, especially in Asia. … After Hiroshima is an important book. It deepens our understanding of American national security policy during an important period and the ways that it interacted with the expectations and apprehensions of Asian nations.' Gary R. Hess, Bowling Green State University
