Preserving the global nuclear order: The Trident agreements and the arms control debate, 1977-82

Doyle, Suzanne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4803-4782 (2018) Preserving the global nuclear order: The Trident agreements and the arms control debate, 1977-82. International History Review, 70 (5). pp. 1174-1190. ISSN 0707-5332

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Abstract

The Trident negotiations were a pivotal moment in establishing the US-UK nuclear relationship as an accepted element of the global nuclear order. The Trident agreements marked the first supply of a US delivery system to the UK since the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the development of Superpower arms control. In turn, the development of these agendas in the international sphere influenced Anglo-American discussions on the replacement to Polaris. The Carter White House procrastinated on the provision of Trident due in part to their concerns over the political ramifications for their wider non-proliferation and arms control goals. However, fortuitously for the UK’s nuclear programme, US-UK discussions on the replacement to Polaris coalesced with the reorientation of US foreign policy towards containment of the Soviet Union under Jimmy Carter and then Ronald Reagan – enabling the finalisation of the sale of Trident to the UK. As such, the status of the US-UK nuclear relationship as a broadly accepted element of the global nuclear order is a legacy of the ‘long 1970s’ alongside the early Cold War.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Issue 5: Aspects of the global nuclear order in the 1970s
Uncontrolled Keywords:	thatcher,reagan,carter,anglo-american,us-uk relations,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Political, Social and International Studies Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Research Groups > Critical Global Politics
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	02 Feb 2018 09:30
Last Modified:	09 Oct 2024 00:16
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/66183
DOI:	10.1080/07075332.2018.1430047

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