Apocalypse Never: Forging the Path to a Nuclear Weapon-Free World

313 Pages·2010·1.24 MB·English

by  Tad Daley

FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page 1
praise for
Apocalypse Never
“Americans have ignored two facts about nuclear weapons that Tad
Daley brilliantly illuminates in historical perspective. First are the con-
sequences of what J. Robert Oppenheimer called our use of atomic
bombs against ‘an essentially defeated enemy.’ Second is our responsi-
bility for promoting nuclear deterrence as a legitimate policy. We are
thus largely responsible for the threat that nuclear weapons pose to the
continued survival of humanity, and we are the only nation capable of
successfully leading an effort to abolish nuclear weapons. Can we do it?
Yes we can, and Apocalypse Never shows us how.”
—Martin J. Sherwin, University Professor of History, George
Mason University; author of A World Destroyed and coauthor of
American Prometheus, winner of the Pulitzer Prize
“While spiritual progressives seek to end all war, a major step is to end
the threat of nuclear war. Tad Daley shows us that this is actually within
our grasp, and an imperative for the survival of our planet and life itself.”
—Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor, Tikkun, and chair, Interfaith
Network of Spiritual Progressives
“Tad Daley has performed a truly rare feat. He doesn’t offer the same
tired survey of Iran and North Korea and the contemporary nuclear
landscape. Instead, he convinces the reader completely that the only
possible solution to the threat of nuclear annihilation is the abolition of
nuclear weapons. Mr. Daley is an elegant writer, and his wonderful first
book Apocalypse Never will enable both experts and regular folks to see,
breathe, and believe in the dawn of a nuclear weapon–free world.”
—Daniel Ellsberg, former State and Defense Department official
and author of Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers
“Few Americans know that more than forty years ago, in the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, our country committed to eliminate its entire
nuclear arsenal. In Apocalypse Never, Tad Daley traces the tortured his-
tory of this promise—and charts a course toward at last fulfilling it.”
—Michael Douglas, Academy Award–winning actor
and U.N. Messenger of Peace
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page 2
“Tad Daley makes a compelling case for eliminating nuclear weapons
now, before they are used intentionally by a terrorist group or acciden-
tally by a nuclear-armed nation. The weight of the evidence supplied in
Apocalypse Never leads to an inescapable conclusion: the fewer nuclear
weapons there are, the safer we all will be. And it makes it clear that our
ultimate security depends on getting rid of these terrible weapons once
and for all.”
—William D. Hartung, New America Foundation,
and coeditor of Lessons from Iraq: Preventing the Next War
“The late U.S. Senator Alan Cranston (D-CAL, 1969–1993) served as
a mentor both to me and to Tad Daley. Senator Cranston’s single
greatest passion was to rid the world of the scourge of nuclear weapons.
Apocalypse Never identifies and counters every one of the daunting chal-
lenges inherent in this task. This book is a compelling call to action.”
—Congressman Mel Levine (D-CAL, 1983–1993)
“In a fresh, lively, accessible style, Apocalypse Never goes to the essence
of complex issues of why and how to leave the age of nuclear weapons
behind. Read, act, and survive!”
—John Burroughs, executive director, Lawyers Committee
on Nuclear Policy, and coeditor, Nuclear Disorder
or Cooperative Security?
“Apocalypse Neverdescribes why the abolition of nuclear weapons is both
imperative and possible. In clear, everyday prose, Tad Daley breathes
new life into the anti-nuclear movement with a strong sense of hope and
an inspiring call to action.”
—Eric Garcetti, president, Los Angeles City Council
“Tad Daley not only provides a scholarly review of reasons for ridding
the world of nuclear weapons, he uses the essential but underused gift
of imagination to design a plausible pathway to a new world.”
—David Krieger, founder and president, Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation and author of Nuclear Weapons and the World Court
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page 3
“Apocalypse Never persuasively discusses the dangers of living with
nuclear weapons, as well as immediate steps that can reduce their threat.
Some, including me, may question whether it is possible or even desir-
able to discuss a nuclear weapons–free world, but the issues Daley treats
deserve serious discussion and debate.”
—Michael D. Intriligator, professor of economics,
political science, and public policy, UCLA
“Apocalypse Never builds a compelling case for one of the most urgent
causes of our time—the global abolition of nuclear weapons. Tad Daley
writes with all the seriousness the subject requires, but refreshingly
eschews the jargon too often applied by ‘experts’ that estranges those not
conversant in their lingo.”
—Kevin Martin, executive director, Peace Action
“Nuclear disarmament, proliferation, and terrorism have been studied
primarily by experts and policy wonks, the nuclear ‘priesthood,’ if you
will. It is a subject that cries out for clarity, interest, and the ability to
engage the educated reader. Tad Daley answers this call splendidly.”
—Robert K. Musil, Nuclear Studies Institute, American University;
former executive director, Physicians for Social Responsibility,
Nobel Peace Laureate organization
“In Apocalypse Never, Tad Daley illuminates the moral abomination that
highlights the American nuclear legacy. Then, he charts a course not
only toward nuclear disarmament, but indeed toward general and com-
plete disarmament, and an end to militarism itself. Read this book, and
act upon its precepts.”
—Saul Mendlovitz, Dag Hammarskjöld Professor,
Rutgers Law School
“Tad Daley is a genius on nuclear abolition. His knowledge spans
decades. I’ve watched him educating small groups, far from the spot-
light, and his message is always shining and clear—that the shameful,
brief history of nuclear weapons must now come to an end.”
—Mimi Kennedy, actor and chair,
Progressive Democrats of America
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page 4
“Apocalypse Never is a compelling book whose time has come. Tad
Daley’s prose, like his charismatic oratory, is forceful and exciting.
His blueprint for abolition is a wonderful stew of history, humor, and
strategic thinking—and it will motivate readers to make it a reality.”
—Don Kraus, chief executive officer, Citizens for Global Solutions
“In real terms, not just in theory, Tad Daley answers all the hard ques-
tions. Buy it, read it, and take action with the millions of citizens join-
ing this growing movement.”
—Tim Carpenter, executive director,
Progressive Democrats of America
“Apocalypse Never is a roadmap for a world free of nuclear weapons. If
ordinary people get to decide—and not just those who believe in nuclear
brinksmanship—this book will be our guide to a safer, saner world.”
—Michael J. Wilson, national director,
Americans for Democratic Action
“This book is a timely discussion of the difficult choices our country
must make as we move towards a world free of nuclear weapons.”
—Ambassador Robert T. Grey, Jr., former U.S. Representative
to the U.N. Conference on Disarmament; director,
Bipartisan Security Group
“Tad Daley joins the ranks of Henry Kissinger, George Schultz, Sam
Nunn and other statesmen calling for abolition. He alerts us to the chal-
lenges we face in a netherworld of psychological disarmament, and
reveals that, thanks to Bush and Cheney’s fabulous misadventure, ‘Axis
of Evil’ dictators have learned that it is better to have WMDs than be
wrongly accused of having them.”
—Ian Masters, Background Briefing, KPFK/Pacifica Public Radio
“Read this book as though your life and the lives of your children
depend on it . . . because they do.”
—John Loretz, International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War, Nobel Peace Laureate organization
“It’s been said that a wise man knows what’s watt and Tad Daley’s book
is what one might call a power generator.”
—Edward Asner, Emmy Award–winning actor
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page i
Apocalypse Never
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page ii
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page iii
Apocalypse Never
F
Forging the Path to a
Nuclear Weapon–Free
World
Tad Daley
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page iv
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Daley, Tad.
Apocalypse never : forging the path to a nuclear weapon–free world /
Tad Daley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8135-4661-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Nuclear disarmament. 2. Nuclear arms control 3. Nuclear
nonproliferation. I. Title.
JZ5665.D35 2010
327.1(cid:2)747—dc22 2009018769
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Copyright © 2010 by Tad Daley
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University
Press, 100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception
to this prohibition is “fair use” as defined by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
FM.qxd 2/4/10 11:17 AM Page v
For my late parents,
Diana Jankey Daley and Claude Daley, Jr.,
who planted the seeds of what I hope blossoms in here,
and who live on in many elsewheres.
And for H. G. Wells, George F. Kennan, Robert A. Heinlein,
and Professor Philip S. Haring of Knox College,
who taught me to ponder not only what we are,
but what we might become.
And, most of all, for my beloved wife, Kitty Felde,
who never, for a single moment, did not believe
that I could, and should, and would.