Why did the United States move from a position of nuclear superiority over the Soviet Union at the beginning of the 1960s to one of nuclear parity under conditions of mutual assured destruction in 1972? 

Drawing on declassified conversations between three presidents and their most trusted advisers, James Cameron offers an original answer to this question in his book, The Double Game: The Demise of America’s First Missile Defense System and the Rise of Strategic Arms Limitation.

John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon struggled to reconcile their personal convictions about the nuclear arms race with public demands. In doing so they engaged in a double game, hiding their true beliefs behind a façade of strategic language, while grappling in private with the complex realities of the nuclear age.

James Cameron is a postdoctoral research associate in the Centre for Science and Security Studies and the Centre for Grand Strategy.

His research sheds new light on the nuclear history of the Cold War and explores its implications for current policy.

This event is hosted by the Centre for Science and Security Studies.