Supplemental Materials
The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons
The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons introduces students to the history of nuclear weapons and the concept of deterrence. It examines arguments for and against nuclear weapons and looks at three challenges facing us today: the leftover arsenals of the Cold War, proliferation, and the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Online Resources from the Choices Program
Scholars Online videos
Bring university scholars into your classrooms with video featuring top scholars answering specific question in his or her field of expertise.Images
To be used during Day 1 activity of The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons.Map
To be used during the Day 2 activity of The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons.Documents
Interesting and important materials on nuclear weapons including:
- Treaty On The Nonproliferation Of Nuclear Weapons
- NSC-68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security [Excerpts]
- John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
- Letter from Prime Minister Castro to Chairman Khrushchev, October 26, 1962
- Mohamed El Baradei, Director General International Atomic Energy Agency, Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, December 10, 2005
- Remarks by President Barack Obama on Nuclear Weapons, Prague, Czech Republic, April 5, 2009
Songs about Nuclear Weapons
A lesson using video and lyrics of songs of the nuclear ageOnline Ballot: Nuclear Weapons - What Do You Think?
After study and deliberation on the issue of nuclear weapons policy, we encourage students to make their views known. A report on student views will be developed.
Online Lessons from the Choices Program
Mapping the Nuclear World
An online lesson plan.Unleashing the Energy of the Atom
A free lesson plan and reading developed as a science lesson that accompanies Ending the War Against Japan: Science, Morality, and the Atomic Bomb.The U.S. and Iran: Confronting Policy Alternatives
A free Teaching with the News lesson that engages students in the question of the U.S. relationship with Iran and the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment program.
Web Links
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Extensive resources on the issues surrounding nuclear weapons.Federation of American Scientists' Nuclear Information Project
A source with numerous links to resources regarding weapons of mass destruction.National Security Archive
This collection includes declassified documents on many aspects of U.S. nuclear policy and nuclear crises including the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Books
Busch, Nathan E. and Joyner, Daniel H. (eds.) Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Future of International Nonproliferation Policy (Studies in Security and International Affairs) (Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 2009) 360 pages.
Mueller, John E. Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda (New York: Oxford University Press 2009) 336 pages.
Sagan, Scott and Waltz, Kenneth. The Spread of Nuclear Weapons: An Enduring Debate (New York: W.W. Norton, 2012) 288 pages.
Tannenwald, Nina. The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945 (Cambridge Studies in International Relations) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008) 472 pages.
Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations (New York: Basic Books, 2000) 361 pages.
Related Curriculum Titles
Conflict on the Korean Peninsula: North Korea and the Nuclear Threat helps students explore the history of the conflict between North and South Korea and the development of North Korea's nuclear program. With this historical understanding, students consider the issues surrounding the international response to the North Korean nuclear threat.
The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons introduces students to the history of nuclear weapons and the concept of deterrence. It examines arguments for and against nuclear weapons and looks at three challenges facing us today: the leftover arsenals of the Cold War, proliferation, and the threat of nuclear terrorism.
Ending the War Against Japan: Science, Morality, and the Atomic Bomb allows students to examine primary source materials and background information available to U.S. decision-makers in mid-1945 to reconstruct both the scientific odyssey which produced the bomb and the debate within the Truman administration on whether the bomb should have been used against Japan and how.
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History probes the complex relationship between the United States and Cuba, and examines the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis draws on groundbreaking research emerging from a series of international conferences.