Public Diplomacy for the Nuclear Age: the United States, the United Kingdom, and the End of the Cold War
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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY FOR THE NUCLEAR AGE: THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE END OF THE COLD WAR A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Anthony M. Eames, M.A. Washington, DC April 9, 2020 Copyright 2020 by Anthony M. Eames All Rights ReserveD ii PUBLIC DIPLOMACY FOR THE NUCLEAR AGE: THE UNITED STATES, THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND THE END OF THE COLD WAR Anthony M. Eames, M.A. Thesis Advisor: Kathryn Olesko, Ph.D., David Painter, Ph.D. ABSTRACT During the 1980s, public diplomacy campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic competed for moral, political, and scientific legitimacy in debates over arms control, the deployment of new missile systems, ballistic missile defense, and the consequences of nuclear war. The U.S. and U.K. governments, led respectively by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, and backed by a network of think tanks and political organizations associated with the New Right, sought to win public support for a policy of Western nuclear superiority over the Soviet bloc. Transatlantic peace movement and scientific communities, in contrast, promoted the language and logic of arms reduction as an alternative to the arms race. Their campaigns produced new approaches for relating scientific knowledge and the voice of previously neglected groups such as women, racial minorities, and the poor, to the public debate to illuminate the detrimental effects of reliance on nuclear weapons for Western society. The conflict between these simultaneously domestic and transnational campaigns transformed the nature of diplomacy and public diplomacy, in which official and unofficial actors engaged transnational publics in order to win support for their policy preferences, emerged as an important complement to state-based institutional channels of international relations. iii The public dimension of diplomacy that flourished in the “nuclear 1980s” altered American and British perceptions of the Cold War, creating space for Western leaders to respond positively to moves by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to deescalate and demilitarize the Cold War. The Thatcher government exploited Britain’s position as an essential conduit for U.S.-Soviet diplomacy and as an independent nuclear actor, even as elements of British society embraced disarmament ideas. Years of competing with the antinuclear movement for public support and the influence of the Thatcher government led Reagan and his second Secretary of State George Shultz, to engage with Gorbachev in efforts to end the arms race and the Cold War. Thus, although the antinuclear movement initially failed to prevent the deployment and development of new nuclear systems, it succeeded in creating a climate in which major nuclear arms reductions agreements could be reached. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To my wife, Kelly. You have provided immeasurable love and support during the writing of this dissertation, and always. To my father, Marshall. You have been an ever present and able mentor throughout my journey in scholarship. Like most dissertations, my project has taken many twists and turns, and gone off in countless directions. My two advisors, Kathryn Olesko and David Painter, deserve more credit than I can give them for channeling my enthusiasm into a productive course. My studies with them have molded my ways of thinking about the nuclear phenomena that I grapple with in this dissertation. They have shown endless reserves of patience for dealing with my last second requests, unpolished drafts, fleeting intellectual curiosities, and my more well-conceived scholarly inquiries and approaches. Along the way they have modelled the roles of worlD-class scholar, generous teacher, and gracious mentor. I thank them for all of their intellectual, professional, and personal support. My dissertation committee members deserve a great deal of thanks. Toshi Higuchi’s insights have brought greater nuance to my work. He too has dealt patiently with my requests and nurtured my intellectual development as a mentor and friend. I thank him for treating me as a colleague and encouraging me to claim my authority as a historian. I am thankful for Bill Burr and Matthew Grant for going beyond the call of duty and serving as outside readers on my dissertation committee. Without Bill’s and Matthew’s truly outstanding contributions to the field of nuclear history I could not have conceived of my dissertation. Their willingness to join my committee and engage with my work represents the best qualities among professional historians. vii I am grateful for my colleagues and teachers who invested their time and energy in my work. Jackson Perry deserves praise for being my editor-extraordinaire, and for balancing his forthright criticisms with complimentary remarks. I appreciate Tom Foley, Chad Frazier, Thom Loyd, Andrew Ross, Kate Steir, and Cory Young for breaking from the demands of their own dissertations and lives to comment on my work. I thank Katherine Benton-Cohen, Alison Games, and Marty Sherwin for leading excellent seminars that led to this dissertation. Clark Alejandrino, Craig Harrington, Carolina Madinaveitia, Alex Pappas, and Sarah Robey deserve my gratitude for being sincere sounding boards and cheerleaders. I appreciate the financial support that made my dissertation research possible. The Truman Good Neighbor Foundation, American Institute of Physics, and the Georgetown University History Department and Graduate School generously funded research trips across the United States and United Kingdom. My family has made my pursuit of a Ph.D. possiBle. My wife, Kelly, has given so much of herself to keep me inspired, motivated, and focused throughout my graduate studies. Her support has been both unending and deeply needed. My mother, Angeles, and father, Marshall, instilled in me a love of learning. My mother taught me the persistence and resilience needed to complete a Ph.D. The professional and personal inspiration I draw from her experience grows more profound as I grow in my own career. My sisters, Luisa and Briana, have supported me in ways big and small during my pursuit of a Ph.D. Thanks to Bill, Maryann, Agnes, Pat, Archie, Brendan, Stephanie, Declan, Jason, Ross, and Woodley for keeping my spirits high throughout the many months of writing. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 The Nuclear 1980s and the End of the Cold War ........................................................... 9 Chapter Overview ......................................................................................................... 22 Chapter One: The Search for a Nuclear Strategy .............................................................. 29 A Retreat from Arms Control ...................................................................................... 34 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, British Influence, and the Public Opinion Problem ......................................................................................................................... 48 The Strategic Arms Reduction Talks – Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Connection .................................................................................................................... 59 Chapter Two: The British Nuclear Debate: Disarmament, Deterrence, and Democracy . 73 To Protest and Survive .................................................................................................. 75 Toolmakers for the Peace Movement ........................................................................... 91 Public Diplomacy and Protest: The Anglo-American Connection ............................. 100 Chapter Three: An Antinuclear Awakening ................................................................... 126 Elements of the Nuclear Peace Movement ................................................................. 128 Nuclear Politics and the 1982 MiD-term Election ....................................................... 153 Chapter Four: Rescuing the Deterrence Agenda ............................................................ 178 The Deterrence Debate and the 1983 British General Election ................................. 179 Moral Combat and U.S. Nuclear Politics .................................................................... 210 Arms Control, Public Diplomacy, and Congressional Bargaining ............................. 233 Chapter Five: Public Diplomacy and the Undoing of Arms Control .............................. 249 Walking Out ................................................................................................................ 250 A Stop to Strategic Arms Reduction Talks ................................................................. 266 v A Third Front: the Strategic Defense Initiative, the ABM Treaty, and the Search for Strategic Superiority .............................................................................................. 276 Chapter Six: A British View of the Strategic Defense Initiative and Nuclear Winter .. 321 Strategic Defense Initiative Skeptics and Science Diplomacy ................................... 322 The Special Nuclear Relationship at Work ................................................................. 337 Chapter Seven: Summit Diplomacy and the Battle for Public Opinion ........................ 361 Progress in Geneva ....................................................................................................