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Reinforcing the imperium: Joseph Gerson on the US nuclear arsenal
In the first of two interviews on peace and conflict, Ian Sinclair speaks to JOSEPH GERSON about his seminal 2007 book Empire and the Bomb: How the US Uses Nuclear Weapons to Dominate the World
The Mark 39 Nuclear Bomb carried by US B-52 bombers until 1966

WHILE the media has presented Russian President Vladimir Putin’s repeated nuclear threats during the Ukraine war as uniquely reckless, Joseph Gerson highlights how the US has prepared or threatened nuclear war at least 30 times since the end of the second world war.

Ian Sinclair: What is the function of the US nuclear arsenal?

Joseph Gerson: In addition to providing massive profits to the US military-industrial complex, the US nuclear arsenal has two primary purposes: reinforcing the US global imperium and deterring nuclear blackmail or attacks by rival nuclear powers.

The origins of the US nuclear arsenal and the first-use doctrine are instructive. The Manhattan Project was initiated amidst fears that Nazi Germany would create nuclear weapons to be used against the United States and its wartime allies. The idea was to have a US nuclear weapon to deter Nazi use of the apocalyptic weapon.

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