Nations in Arms

This is a revised and enlarged 2nd edition, which covers the question of defence policies based on the idea, not of long-distance retaliation, but of making a country hard to conquer. It attempts to outline an alternative to the heavy reliance on nuclear deterrence of some countries today. It traces the origins of the idea of territorial defence and its current part in the defence plans of many countries from China to Switzerland. The extent to which such policies can be considered "manifestly defensive"is considered; so are the implications of industrialization and of new precision-guided weapons. As opposed to the debate about defence, cast in terms of unilateral versus multilateral disarmament; or membership versus non-membership of NATO, this book suggests that the debate might focus less on these issues than on one which is more fundamental and also more practical: what kind of defence policy can states or alliances pursue, which give them some control over their destiny, which can command public support and which is compatible with the goal of peace?