Their respective nuclear strategies during the Cold War

What is it about?

NATO, Britain, France and the FRG (and always in the background, the big transatlantic ally USA) had diverging nuclear strategies (and preferences, in the case of West Germany). These are explained and tracked throughout the Cold War, and related to threat perceptions and perceptions of the reliability of the US as an ally.

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Why is it important?

On the basis of recently released previously top secret documents (including for the first time NATO's Cold War strategic concepts) this maps the history of Western strategies with regard to nuclear weapons use, and the rationale for nuclear arsenals and their particular configurations and characteristics.