Rethinking Nuclear Weapons - Pragmatic solutions to nuclear weapons

If nuclear weapons aren’t useful, then how can you explain the fact that they won World War II?

It’s a good question. The problem is that they didn’t win World War II. The Soviet intervention did. The Soviet intervention radically changed the strategic situation. The atomic bombing was merely an extension of an already ferocious bombing campaign.

In 1945 the Japanese had lost the war. The Allies knew it. The Japanese knew it. The only question was how the Allies were going to persuade the Japanse to surrender. The US was offering “unconditional surrender” which meant the Japanese gave in and the US made no promises.

Historians have looked pretty closely at the situation inside the Japanese government in the summer of 1945. A certain amount of new evidence has come to light. Journals, diaries. Based on all the evidence historians have conlcuded … Read More »