The advent of nuclear weapons introduced a complex new factor into world politics, drawing a line through history and ensuring that international relations would never be the same. By both accident and design, Canada was a central player in the new nuclear era, as countries grappled with the implications of this revolutionary new development. Canada's decision, unique among pioneer atomic powers, not to acquire a nuclear arsenal has been used to buttress widely differing political agendas, while the factors that shaped the policy-making process have been largely ignored. In "Canada's Early Nuclear Policy" Brian Buckley weaves information from a number of disciplines to shed new light on Canada's early policies. Filling a longstanding gap in the national story, he explores the country's role in the early post-war period, cautioning against simplistic explanations and pointing to the continuing roles of contingency and personality in decision making.
He points out that while the threat of nuclear war has receded in recent years, the number of states with nuclear weapons, the number of weapons and their killing power are all far greater than they were five decades ago, demonstrating that virtually all the issues that emerged 50 years ago remain on the international agenda and are as relevant today as ever.