Journal of Political Science Volume 29 Number 1 Article 5 November 2001 Rethinking Atomic Diplomacy and the Origins of the Cold War Gregory Paul Domin Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops Part of the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Domin, Gregory Paul (2001) "Rethinking Atomic Diplomacy and the Origins of the Cold War," Journal of Political Science: Vol. 29 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol29/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Politics at CCU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Political Science by an authorized editor of CCU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Rethinking Atomic Diplomacy and the Origins of the Cold War Gregory Paul Domin Mercer University This paper argues that the conflict between nuclear na tionalist and nuclear internationalist discourses over atomic weapons policy was critical in the articulation of a new system of American power . The creation of the atomic bomb destroyed the Roosevelt's vision of a post war world order while confronting United States (and Soviet) policymakers with alternatives that, before the bomb's use, only a handful of individuals had contem plated. The bomb remade the world . My argument is that the atomic bomb did not cause the Cold War, but without it, the Cold War could not have occurred . INTRODUCTION he creation of the atomic bomb destroyed the Roose veltian vision of a postwar world order while confronting TUnited States (and Soviet) policymakers with a new set of alternatives that, prior to the bomb's use, only a bare handful of individuals among those privy to the secret of the Manhattan Project had even contemplated.