ABSTRACT
Thepreviouschaptershavefocusedontheroleofnuclearweapons intheSecondWorldWar,inthedevelopmentofstrategy,inrelationtoTotalWarandtopublicthinkingaboutwarinWestern societies.Thischapteraddressestheroleandtheeffectofnuclear weaponsinrelationtohumanhistory,whichhastosuchanenormousextentbeendominatedbythefortunesofwar.Hiroshima andNagasakiwereundoubtedlyawatershedintwentieth-century historyinthatnoThirdWorldWartookplacebetweenNATO andtheWarsawTreatyOrganisation.Yet,anuclearwar(orindeed aTotalWaroranyotheruseofweaponsofmassdestruction)could wellstilltakeplace,asweshallsee,withconsequenceswellbeyond thetheatreofwar.Also,manysmallerwarshavetakenplacewhich havebeenveryfar-reachingintheirconsequencesforthepopulationsofthecountriessoafflicted.Havenuclearweaponsobviated
major war? Has their invention been a turning point in all intersocietal relations to the point where humans would no longer risk a major war? Have they introduced a permanent change in the behaviour of human societies? How likely is it that the evil of Hiroshima, as the inscription says on the cenotaph in the Peace Park of that city, will not be repeated by us humans again?
