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The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump
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About The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race And
Product Description The President has the power to end the world in minutes. Right now, no one can stop him. Since the Truman administration, America has been one "push of a button" away from nuclear war—a decision that rests solely in the hands of the President. Without waiting for approval from Congress or even the Secretary of Defense, the President can unleash America's entire nuclear arsenal. Almost every governmental process is subject to institutional checks and balances. Why is potential nuclear annihilation the exception to the rule? For decades, glitches and slip-ups have threatened to trigger nuclear winter: misinformation, false alarms, hacked warning systems, or even an unstable President. And a new nuclear arms race has begun, threatening us all. At the height of the Cold War, Russia and the United States each built up arsenals exceeding 30,000 nuclear weapons, armed and ready to destroy each other—despite the fact that just a few hundred are necessary to end life on earth. From authors William J. Perry, Secretary of Defense in the Clinton administration and Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Carter administration, and Tom Z. Collina, the Director of Policy at Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation in Washington, DC, The Button recounts the terrifying history of nuclear launch authority, from the faulty 46-cent microchip that nearly caused World War III to President Trump's tweet about his "much bigger & more powerful" button. Perry and Collina share their firsthand experience on the front lines of the nation's nuclear history and provide illuminating interviews with former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Congressman Adam Smith, Nobel Peace Prize winner Beatrice Fihn, senior Obama administration officials, and many others. Written in an accessible and authoritative voice, The Button reveals the shocking tales and sobering facts of nuclear executive authority throughout the atomic age, delivering a powerful condemnation against ever leaving explosive power this devastating under any one person's thumb. Review "This authoritative account reveals the true extent of the nuclear threat." —Publishers Weekly "Generating the political will to turn the tide against nuclear weapons is both possible and necessary, and Perry and Collina's book offers some practical interim steps that will make that task easier to accomplish." —Forbes "Every citizen should read this book—a clear account of our history with nuclear weapons, the continuing risks of their use through human error or cyberattacks, and the authors' recommended steps to create a safer future. It's an assault on the complacency of ‘nobody would be crazy enough to unleash these' thinking." —President Bill Clinton "Today, a nuclear catastrophe could occur instantaneously, at any moment, without any warning, with a lasting impact too terrible for words. That's why The Button is one of the most important books of 2020." —Eric Schlosser, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and author of Command and Control "Bill Perry, one of the wisest and most effective Secretaries of Defense ever to serve, has coauthored with Tom Collina another provocative, must-read book. The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump brings to life the nuclear dangers and dilemmas of the present day and makes a compelling case for several pragmatic changes to US nuclear weapons policy that would meaningfully reduce the risk of nuclear miscalculation." —Michèle Flournoy, former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy "At a time when the power to destroy our world rests in the hands of men like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, The Button is a powerful and urgent reminder that the risk of nuclear war is far too great. More than that, it offers a smart, comprehensive, well-argued case for what we can do to pursue a safer and more peaceful world." —Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor to Pres
