Nuclear Weapons and Law

by Bloomsbury Academic

Overview

This book presents a rounded critique of the conventional wisdom about the legality of nuclear weapons by experts in international and constitutional law. Part I addresses the status of nuclear weapons under international law. Scholars on one side of the question draw upon treaties and international custom to argue that most uses of nuclear weapons are illegal and that even mere possession of such weaponry is legally unjustifiable. Others argue that law cannot be imposed on the nuclear weapons states without their consent and that nuclear weapons provide deterrence that binds the superpowers in a peaceful balance of power. Part I concludes with a comprehensive bibliography on nuclear weapons and international law. Part II, the section that focuses on nuclear weapons and American constitutional law, offers widely divergent approaches and conclusions. Although there is no explicit prohibition of such weapons in the United States Constitution, several contributors suggest that the advent of nuclear weapons has so changed the milieu in which constitutional institutions operate that many accepted conclusions must be reexamined. Part III explores the effects of nuclear weapons on the environment and the medical consequences of nuclear war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313242069
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/21/1984
Series:	Contributions in Legal Studies , #31
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: On the Relevance of Law to Nuclear Weapons
Arthur Selwyn Miller and Martin Feinrider
Part I:Nuclear Weapons and International Law
1. Nuclear Weapons and International Law
Richard B. Bilder
2. Nuclear Weapons, Global Values and International Law
Dinesh Khosla
3. The Laws of War and Nuclear Weapons
Elliott L. Meyrowitz
4. Nuclear Weapons and the Law: Enhancing Strategic Stability
John Norton Moore
5. Deterrence and a Policy-Oriented Perspective on the Legality of Nuclear Weapons
Harry H. Almond, Jr.
6. International Law as Law of the Land: Another Constitutional Constraint on Use of Nuclear Weapons
Martin Feinrider
7. Toward a Legal Regime for Nuclear Weapons
Richard Falk
8. Deterrence and International Law
W. Michael Reisman
9. Nuclear Weapons Versus International Law: A Contextual Reassessment
Burbans H. Weston
10. International Law, Nuclear Weapons, Arms Control and Disarmament
B.V.A. Röling
11. "Filling Out" the Right to Peace: A Basic Change in the Nation-State System
Saul Mendlovitz
12. The Use of Nuclear Weapons Under International Law: An Annotated Bibliography
Carol A. Roehrenbeck
Part II:Nuclear Weapons and Constitutional Law
13. Nuclear Weapons and Constitutional Law
Arthur Selwyn Miller
14. Commentary on the Constitutional Debate
Ovid C. Lewis
15. Protecting Posterity
Aviam Soifer
16. Nuclear War: The End of Law
Milner S. Ball
17. The Frail Constitution of Good Intentions
Stanley C. Brubaker
18. Wisdom, Constitutionality, and Nuclear Weapons Policy
Dean Alfange, Jr.
19. Admirable Ends—Questionable Means
Iredell Jenkins
20. Letter from the Government
William H. Taft, IV
21. Presidential Power and Nuclear Defense
Arval A. Morris
22. The Power to Use Nuclear Weapons: A Response to Professor Miller
Jack M. Goldklang
23. The President, the Constitution and Nuclear Weapons
Thomas M. Franck
24. A Commentary on Nuclear Weapons and Constitutional Law
Fletcher N. Baldwin, Jr.
25. In Brief Rejoinder
Arthur Selwyn Miller
Part III:An Enviro-Medical Context
26. Consequences of Nuclear Weapons Use as Viewed by an Environmental Lawyer
Frank P. Grad
27. Medical Consequences of Nuclear War
Jay Kerzner, M.D.
Index
About the Contributors