The Partnership: Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb
In 2007, four former Cold Warriors who helped build up the nation’s nuclear arsenal stunned the world by advocating for its elimination. The four—Henry Kissinger and George Schultz (former secretaries of state), William Perry (former defense secretary), and Sam Nunn (former head of the Senate Armed Services Committee)—were joined by nuclear physicist Sidney Drell to undo much that they had spent their careers doing in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. The threat now is from stateless terrorists and more widespread access to nuclear materials and know-how, making the U.S. more vulnerable to attack with nuclear weapons. Award-winning journalist Taubman chronicles their journey from Cold War–era nuclear advocates to opponents, detailing their personal perspectives, careers, and the politics of the administrations in which they served. Strong personalities with political and ideological differences that provoke tensions, the men, now in their seventies and eighties, have nevertheless persisted in a campaign for nuclear disarmament. Taubman puts their campaign into historical perspective, contrasting the politics of the Cold War with the increasing threat of nuclear terrorism and the way 9/11 has changed the political equation. --Vanessa Bush