How to Live with the Bomb

The awesome destructive power of nuclear weapons has blinded many observers to the positive role this very power has played in ending wars and preserving peace over the past forty years. Nuclear weapons ended World War II, have prevented World War III, helped to end the Korean War, and played a decisive role in deterring Soviet aggression in crises in Europe, the Mideast, and the Caribbean. This positive role is most dramatically illustrated by the fact that two powers with diametrically opposed political philosophies and geopolitical interests have not resorted to arms to settle those differences. The prospect of nuclear destruction has certainly encouraged this restraint.

Some critics question the wisdom of President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to end World War II. Three hundred twenty thousand civilians died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But it has been estimated that the alternative —an invasion of Japan—would have resulted in the deaths of more than a million American and Japanese troops, as well as at least a million civilian casualties.

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Richard Nixon

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The awesome destructive power of nuclear weapons has blinded many observers to the positive role this very power has played in ending wars and preserving peace over the past forty years. Nuclear weapons ended World War II, have prevented World War III, helped to end the Korean War, and played a decisive role in deterring Soviet aggression in crises in Europe, the Mideast, and the Caribbean. This positive role is most dramatically illustrated by the fact that two powers with diametrically opposed political philosophies and geopolitical interests have not resorted to arms to settle those differences. The prospect of nuclear destruction has certainly encouraged this restraint.

Some critics question the wisdom of President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to end World War II. Three hundred twenty thousand civilians died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But it has been estimated that the alternative —an invasion of Japan—would have resulted in the deaths of more than a million American and Japanese troops, as well as at least a million civilian casualties.