Abstract
No nuclear-armed states or their closest allies have signed the Nuclear Ban Treaty. These states emphasize that nuclear weapons remain necessary for deterrence purposes, even as many of them also claim to support disarmament in the long run. This inconsistent approach creates an opportunity to stigmatize nuclear deterrence strategy via the use of public ridicule. The chapter examines numerous instances when academics and former policymakers, diplomats, and military leaders have ridiculed nuclear deterrence strategy and/or weapons deployments, often by identifying logical inconsistencies and paradoxes associated with various policies. The conclusion explains that U.S. President Donald Trump’s bellicose nuclear threats create ongoing opportunities for ridicule.
Portions of this chapter were previously presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Security Studies Section of the International Studies Association (ISA) and the International Security and Arms Control Section of the American Political Science Association, Chapel Hill, NC, October 4–6, 2012; and the Annual Meeting of the ISA, New Orleans, LA, February 17–20, 2010. The author is grateful for feedback from Robert Art, Chris Demchak, Peter Dombrowski, Roger Handberg, Anne Harrington, Maria Rost Rublee, Meredith Reid Sarkees, Martin Senn, and various participants in the May 2018 Antwerp Workshop on Non-Nuclear Peace.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alinsky, S. ([1971] 1989). Rules for radicals, a pragmatic primer for realistic radicals. New York: Vintage Books.
Baldick, R. (1965). The duel: A history of duelling. New York: Potter.
Barnett, T. P. M. (2009, May 14). Seven reasons why Obama’s nuke-free utopia won’t work. Esquire. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a5914/obama-nuclear-proliferation-051409/. Accessed 25 September 2012.
Bierman, N. (2017, August 8). Trump warns North Korea of ‘fire and fury’. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-trump-warns-north-korea-of-fire-and-1502220642-htmlstory.html. Accessed 20 April 2018.
Billig, M. (2005). Laughter and ridicule: Towards a social critique of humour. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Borrie, J. (2014). Humanitarian reframing of nuclear weapons and the logic of a ban. International Affairs, 90(3), 625–646.
Bowden, J. (2017, August 10). Colbert questions Trump: What’s tougher than ‘fire and fury’? The Hill. http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/346153-colbert-questions-trump-whats-tougher-than-fire-and-fury. Accessed 20 April 2018.
Boyer, P. S. (2004). ‘Dr. Strangelove’ at 40: The continuing relevance of a Cold War cultural icon. Arms Control Today, 34(10), 46–48.
Brown, H., & Deutch, J. (2007, November 19). The nuclear disarmament fantasy. Wall Street Journal, A19.
Bundy, M., Kennan, G. F., McNamara, R. S., & Smith, G. (1982). Nuclear weapons and the Atlantic Alliance. Foreign Affairs, 60(4), 753–768.
Butler, L. (1996, December 4). National press club remarks. http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/News/Butlpress.txt. Accessed 10 February 2010.
Butler, L. (2006). At the end of the journey: The risks of Cold War thinking in a new era. International Affairs, 82(4), 763–769.
Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Australia. Department of Foreign Affairs, and Trade. (1996). Report of the Canberra commission on the elimination of nuclear weapons. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. http://prop1.org/2000/canbrp03.htm. Accessed 10 February 2010.
Cohn, C. (2018, January 5). The perils of mixing masculinity and missiles. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/opinion/security-masculinity-nuclear-weapons.html. Accessed 13 April 2018.
Ditum, S. (2018, January 3). Trump’s claim that his button is bigger than Kim Jong-un’s proves that toxic masculinity is going to ruin the world. Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nuclear-button-north-korea-masculinity-macho-diplomacy-war-conflict-a8139971.html. Accessed 13 April 2018.
Evangelista, M. (2011). Nuclear abolition or nuclear umbrella? Choice and contradictions in U.S. proposals. In C. M. Kelleher & J. Reppy (Eds.), Getting to zero: The path to nuclear disarmament (pp. 296–316). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Finnemore, M., & Sikkink, K. (1998). International norm dynamics and political change. International Organization, 52(4), 887–917.
Gaddis, J. L. (1997). We now know: Rethinking Cold War history. New York: Oxford University.
General Lee Butler reflects on working toward peace. (2008). Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Santa Clara University. https://legacy.scu.edu/ethics/architects-of-peace/Butler/essay.html. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Goodall, H. L., Jr., Cheong, P. H., Fleischer, K., & Corman, S. R. (2012). Rhetorical charms: The promise and pitfalls of humor and ridicule as strategies to counter extremist narratives. Perspectives on Terrorism, 6(1), 70–79.
Green, P. (1966). Deadly logic: The theory of nuclear deterrence. New York: Schocken Books.
Hanson, M., & Ungerer, C. (1999). The Canberra Commission: Paths followed, paths ahead. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 53(1), 5–17.
International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. (2009). Eliminating nuclear threats. https://web.archive.org/web/20111121213153/http://www.icnnd.org/reference/reports/ent/pdf/ICNND_Report-EliminatingNuclearThreats.pdf. Accessed 18 August 2018.
Interview: Admiral Stansfield Turner. (1999, February). Russian roulette. Frontline, Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/russia/interviews/turner.html. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Interview: General William Odom (ret.). (1999, February). Russian roulette. Frontline, Public Broadcasting Service. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/russia/interviews/odom.html. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Jervis, R. (1984). The illogic of American nuclear strategy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Joffe, J., & Davis, J. W. (2011). Less than zero: Bursting the new disarmament bubble. Foreign Affairs, 90(1), 7–13.
Kaplan, F. (2010, October 10). No more nukes? Time. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2019614-3,00.html. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Knopf, J. W. (2010). The fourth wave in deterrence research. Contemporary Security Policy, 31(1), 1–33.
Kull, S. (1985). Nuclear nonsense. Foreign Policy, 58, 28–52.
Lewis, J. (2016, August 5). Our nuclear procedures are crazier than Trump. Foreign Policy. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/05/our-nuclear-procedures-are-crazier-than-trump/. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Lieber, K. A., & Press, D. G. (2006). The rise of U.S. nuclear primacy. Foreign Affairs, 85(2), 42–54.
Lindley, D. (2001). What I learned since I stopped worrying and studied the movie: A teaching guide to Stanley Kubrick’s. Dr. Strangelove. PS: Political Science and Politics, 34(3), 663–667.
McNamara, R. (1983). The military role of nuclear weapons: Perceptions and misperceptions. Foreign Affairs, 62(1), 59–80.
Meyer, P., & Sauer, T. (2018). The nuclear ban treaty: A sign of global impatience. Survival, 60(2), 61–72.
Minor, E. (2015). Changing the discourse on nuclear weapons: The humanitarian initiative. International Review of the Red Cross, 97(899), 711–730.
Morgenthau, H. J. (1964). The four paradoxes of nuclear strategy. American Political Science Review, 58(1), 23–35.
Mueller, J. E. (1989). Retreat from doomsday: The obsolescence of major war. New York: Free Press.
Mueller, J. E. (2010). Atomic obsession: Nuclear alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda. New York: Oxford University Press.
National Security Archive. (2006, October 13). The Reykjavik file. George Washington University. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB203/index.htm. Accessed 20 April 2018.
Nitze, P. H. (1976–1977). Deterring our deterrence. Foreign Policy, 25, 195–210.
Obadare, E. (2009). The uses of ridicule: Humour, ‘infrapolitics’ and civil society in Nigeria. African Affairs, 108(431), 241–261.
Paul, T. V., Morgan, P. M., & Wirtz, J. J. (Eds.). (2009). Complex deterrence: Strategy in the global age. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Payne, K. B. (2012, April 9). Nuclear utopianism, the wishful thinking of U.S. arms control. The Weekly Standard. https://www.weeklystandard.com/keith-b-payne/nuclear-utopianism. Accessed 25 September 2012.
Payne, R. A. (2019). Grappling with Dr. Strangelove’s ‘wargasm’ fantasy. International Studies Review, viz018. https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viz018.
Perry, W. J. (2011, February 24). Have we reached the nuclear tipping point? Second annual Robert S. McNamara lecture on war and peace. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Institute of Politics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/perry-mcnamara-lecture.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Powell, T. (2017, February 7). ‘Become a suicide bomber’: Spoof navy posters appear across London in anti-trident campaign. The Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/become-a-suicide-bomber-spoof-navy-posters-appear-across-london-in-antitrident-campaign-a3460716.html. Accessed 31 January 2019.
Rapoport, A. (Ed.). (1967). Editor’s introduction. In C. von Clausewitz (Ed.), On war. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
Ray, J. L. (1989). The abolition of slavery and the end of international war. International Organization, 43(3), 405–439.
Reagan, R. (1984, January 25). Address before a joint session of the congress on the State of the Union. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40205. Accessed 20 April 2018.
Rhodes, E. (1989). Power and Madness: The logic of nuclear coercion. New York: Columbia University Press.
Rhodes, R. (2008). Arsenals of folly: The making of the nuclear arms race. New York: Random House.
Sauer, T. (2016, April 18). It’s time to outlaw nuclear weapons. National Interest. http://nationalinterest.org/feature/its-time-outlaw-nuclear-weapons-15814. Accessed 20 April 2018.
Sauer, T., & Pretorius, J. (2014). Nuclear weapons and the humanitarian approach. Global Change, Peace & Security, 26(3), 233–250.
Schlesinger, J. (2010, August 11). Keynote. 2010 strategic deterrence symposium, United States strategic command. http://www.stratcom.mil/Media/Speeches/Article/986473/2010-strategic-deterrence-symposium-keynote-by-dr-james-schlesinger/. Accessed 25 September 2012.
Senn, M., & Elhardt, C. (2014). Bourdieu and the bomb: Power, language and the doxic battle over the value of nuclear weapons. European Journal of International Relations, 20(2), 316–340.
Shultz, G., Perry, W., Kissinger, H., & Nunn, S. (2007, January 4). A world free of nuclear weapons. Wall Street Journal, A15.
Shultz, G., Perry, W., Kissinger, H., & Nunn, S. (2008, January 15). Toward a nuclear-free world. Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120036422673589947. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Singer, J. D. (1961). The strategic dilemma: Probability versus disutility: A review of Herman Kahn, ‘on thermonuclear war’. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 5(2), 197–205.
Skinner, Q. (2008). Political rhetoric and the role of ridicule. In K. Palonen, T. Pulkkinen, & J. M. Rosales (Eds.), The politics of democratization in Europe: Concepts and histories (pp. 137–149). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Smith, J. (2018, January 12). Dr. Strangelove in the age of Trump. Balder and Dash, RogerEbert.com. https://www.rogerebert.com/balder-and-dash/dr-strangelove-in-the-age-of-trump. Accessed 13 April 2018.
Statement on nuclear weapons by international generals and admirals. (1996, December 5). http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/ethics/issues/military/statement-by-international-generals.htm. Accessed 10 February 2010.
Stillman, G. B. (2008). Two of the maddest scientists: Where Strangelove meets Dr. No; or, unexpected roots for Kubrick’s cold war classic. Film History: An International Journal, 20(4), 487–500.
Tannenwald, N. (2007). The nuclear taboo: The United States and the non-use of nuclear weapons since 1945. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Trachtenberg, M. (1989). Strategic thought in America, 1952–1966. Political Science Quarterly, 104(2), 301–334.
Trump, D. J. (2018, January 2). Twitter post. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/948355557022420992?lang=en. Accessed 18 August 2018.
UPI Archives. (1986, March 28). Thatcher calls nuclear free world ‘pie in the sky’. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/03/28/Thatcher-calls-nuclear-free-world-pie-in-the-sky/5957512370000/. Accessed 10 April 2018.
Van Laar, J. A. (2008). Confrontation and ridicule. Informal Logic, 28(4), 295–314.
Waller, J. M. (2006). Ridicule as a weapon. Public diplomacy White Paper, No. 7. Institute of World Politics.
Walt, S. M. (1999). A model disagreement. International Security, 24(2), 115–130.
Waltz, K. N. (1979). Theory of international politics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Waltz, K. N. (1990). Nuclear myths and political realities. American Political Science Review, 84(3), 730–745.
Zagare, F. C., & Kilgour, D. M. (2000). Perfect deterrence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Payne, R.A. (2020). Stigmatization by Ridicule: From Dr. Strangelove to Donald Trump. In: Sauer, T., Kustermans, J., Segaert, B. (eds) Non-Nuclear Peace. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26688-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26688-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26687-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26688-2
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)