Shadows on the Wall - by Payne B Keith (Paperback)

About the Book

Keith Payne delivers a tour de force of the foundational considerations for the policy bookends of disarmament versus the sustainment of the U.S. nuclear deterrence. He masterfully and fairly covers the key considerations that have concerned policy makers in the past and will likely do so for the foreseeable future.

Book Synopsis

Professor Keith Payne has written a bold analysis of our historical context that truly is a unique contribution to the American nuclear debate. His work here considers and describes most carefully what must be judged a global challenge to which there is no fully prudent solution. Russia is not going away anytime soon, though indeed already it is somewhat overshadowed by the large dragon to the East. In order to make sense clearly of what is happening, and why, Professor Payne makes admirable use of the familiar binary opposition of Realism and Idealism. He employs these for the keys they provide readily to help explain what otherwise typically is an unduly forbidding debate among experts.

Review Quotes

"At a time of sharpening debate between deterrers and disarmers, Keith Payne invites us to look behind our differences to understand our worldviews. In this timely and important new book, he sets out the main competing narratives and explores the ideas behind them in a careful, balanced way. His perhaps surprising conclusion is that 'no side of the nuclear policy debate has a unique monopoly on logic or reason.' His call for prudence will not be embraced by all. But we can hope that some will join him in trying to seize the 'enormous opportunity for open, honest, and even animated discussion.'"

Dr. Brad Roberts, Director, Center for Global Security Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory