Historical Dictionary of Arms Control and Disarmament (Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest) - Hardcover

Larsen, Jeffrey A.; Smith, James M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810850605 ISBN 13: 9780810850606

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 2005

Synopsis

Historical Dictionary of Arms Control and Disarmament provides a historical review of key themes and issues in international security and arms control, focusing on efforts in the 20th century to control the spread and use of armaments and to prevent war. This book summarizes the rich and proud traditions of arms control and disarmament, their critical role in ensuring a non-catastrophic course throughout history (especially the dangerous period of the Cold War), and their continuing relevance and role in the emerging post-Cold War world. It also seeks to reinforce a broad perspective of key terms in order to capture the scope and range of their application yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Given this combined tradition and focus, this Dictionary serves two purposes. As a historical dictionary, it chronicles key terms, personalities, events, and agreements as a ready reference from which to launch a more extensive investigation. But it also seeks to capture the breadth of current and future applications by presenting the vocabulary of traditional and non-traditional approaches. The book includes a large dictionary of more than 1,000 key terms, as well as a comprehensive bibliography divided into multiple categories, an extensive chronology, and a timeline.

This book can also serve as a useful desk reference for the policy practitioner. The pace and intensity of the practice of arms control often eliminates the luxury of conventional study of past or related arms control efforts. The dictionary seeks to provide a relevant sampling of treaty and agreement details and of the specific terms of reference of arms control to allow productive progress in a policy work environment.

Researchers and students will also find the dictionary to be a useful reference tool. Much of the formal literature in the field, such as treaty texts and policy pronouncements, is written in technical language without elaboration. Also, many references to agreements are posed in shorthand intended only for the policy practi

About this title

About the Author

James M Smith is an associate professor in the English department at Boston College. He has published articles in Signs, The Journal of the History of Sexuality, Éire-Ireland, and ELH. His book, Ireland's Magdalen Laundries and the Nation's Architecture of Containment (Notre Dame UP), was published in 2007 and was awarded the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book by the American Conference for Irish Studies. With Maria Luddy, he coedited a double special issue of Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2009) and the collection Children, Childhood, and Irish Society: 1500 to the Present (Four Courts Press, 2014). He recently coedited a double special issue of Éire-Ireland (Spring/Summer 2020) and the essay collection REDRESS: Ireland and Justice in Transition (forthcoming) on Transitional Justice and institutional abuse in Ireland. He is a member of the advocacy group Justice for Magdalenes Research (JFMR).

Reviews

This latest addition to the Historical Dictionaries of War, Revolution, and Civil Unrest series contains more than 1,000 key terms related to arms control and disarmament, including conferences, treaties, significant people, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and weaponry. Each entry contains a brief description of the term, and most have cross-references.

Although the words arms control and disarmament are more modern terms, their underlying principles have been in use for centuries. An extensive chronology begins with 1100 B.C.E., the Israelite-Philistine Term of Peace (which limited Israel's use of iron), and ends with June 7-12, 2004, the first Russian Open Skies overflight of the U.S. A time line from 1945 through 2004 shows significant arms control and disarmament events and categorizes them as chemical/biological, conventional, testing, strategic, or other.

A long bibliography (approximately 100 pages) is organized by topic and also includes sections on journals and Web sites. Another helpful section of the volume is a list of acronyms and abbreviations. The introduction provides a good overview of arms control and disarmament throughout history and presents a case for continued relevance in today's world.

The authors, former U.S. Air Force pilots who have flown some of the weapons included in this dictionary, are very knowledgeable on this topic. One is senior editor of the U.S. Air Force's internal study of its air campaign in the war against terrorism, and the other is director of the U.S. Air Force Institute for National Security Studies at the Air Force Academy. Their intent was to produce a "useful desk reference for the policy practitioner" and "a useful reference tool for the researcher and student." As much of the formal literature in this field is technical, the authors have translated the terms into language understandable by the lay reader. This would be a good purchase for an academic or public library. kaye talley
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Edition details

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810850605
• ISBN 13: 9780810850606
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 424