Book Review

It is a pleasure to welcome a well-written book on arms control, and one, moreover, that has grown out of the exigencies of an undergraduate course and is designed to meet the needs of students. Because INTERNATIONAL ARMS CONTROL: ISSUES AND AGREEMENTS was the work of several hands, its lucidity and consistency are the more admirable. Comprehensive in scope, it goes just far enough in setting arms control in its various contexts (political, military, cultural, and ethical) without straying out of bounds. It raises a multitude of questions without pretending to answer them all. I found it refreshing to read a piece of advice that writers on arms control in the tradition of the "numbers game" and scenario construction--modes less amenable to reflective consideration of the premises on which their glittering edifices have been constructed--would be wise to heed: "It is important to keep in mind that there are no 'experts' on nuclear war; there are only 'theoreticians.' There is dispute on whether a strategic doctrine adequately describes human behavior or possible nuclear war."