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Two scientists who were involved in the discoveryof the nuclear winter phenomenon make a majorcontribution to informed awareness of the nuclearthreat. They assess recent scientific efforts to evaluatethe probability that nuclear war would cause nuclearwinter and conclude that even a "small" nuclear warwould probably cause disastrous damage to the earth' secosystem. They also criticize existing policy makingabout nuclear weapons for failing to adequately appreciatethe danger of nuclear winter. And they offer anumber of thoughtful proposals for reducing the riskof nuclear omnicide. Like Harkin and Thomas in 7. 66,they argue against complacency about the nuclear threateven in a post-Cold War era: "Altogether there arenearly 60, 000 nuclear weapons in the world. Behindthe welcome improvements in rhetoric and relations,the machinery of mass murder still waits, purring and'attentive. (p. xviii)*7. 78 ¹Sederberg, Peter C. , ed. Nuclear Winter, Deterrenceand the Prevention of Nuclear War. New York:Praeger, 1986. LC 86-8412. ISBN 0-275-92160-3 pa.The contributors to this excellent collection wereasked to discuss the implications for nuclear weaponspolicy of the so-called "nuclear winter" phenomenon,that is, the probability that even a "small" nuclear warwould probably cause far greater damage to theplanetary ecosystem than previously assumed. Theirconclusions range from the conviction that nuclearwinter has made nuclear deterrence obsolete to areluctant acceptance of the fact that deterrence willremain a necessary policy into the distant future.Among the most noteworthy essays are Sederberg'son "Nuclear Winter: Paradoxes and Paradigm Shifts;"William Baugh's on "Dilemmas of Deterrence Policy;"and Robert Kennedy's on "Nuclear Winter, WarPrevention, and the Nuclear Deterrent. "¹ 7. 79 ¹Somerville, John. "Nuclear 'War' Is Omnicide. " InNuclear War: Philosophical Perspectives. Ed. byMichael Allen Fox and Leo Groarke. New York: PeterLang Publishing Co. , 1985. LC 85-4274. ISBN 0-8204-0209-5.Somerville was one of the first to use the conceptof "omnicide" to refer to nuclear war.¹ 7. 80 ¹Spector, Leonard S. 1he Undeclared Bomb: The Spreadof Nuclear Weapons, 1987-88. Cambridge, MA:Ballinger Publishing Co, 1988. LC 88-28726. ISBN0-88730-303-X.Spector is one of the most widely respectedauthorities on the spread of nuclear weapons. Here heexamines the political and military motives, as well asthe technical means, for the proliferation of nuclearweapons. See also his more recent article, "The NewNuclear Nations, " Social Education (March 1990):143-145.¹ 7. 81*White, Ralph K. , ed. Psychology and the Preventionof Nuclear War: A Book of Readings. New York: NewYork University Press, 1986. LC 85-15520. ISBN 0-8147-9203-0.Edited by one of the pioneers in the psychologicalstudy of war and peace issues, this excellent collectionof readings covers a wide range of topics, includingpsychological effects of the nuclear threat; psychologicaldimensions of nuclear deterrence; attitudes of"ordinary" citizens and leaders; sources of impairedperception and judgment by decision makers; managementof crises; and approaches to resolving conflictswithout resort to violence by negotiation, bargaining,and mediation.¹ 7. 82 ¹Edward. 1he Day after World War III.Zuckerman,New York: The Viking Press, 1984. LC 83-040230.ISBN 0-670-25880-6.Zuckerman provides a detailed account of past andpresent American plans for survivingnuclear war, withmany fascinating details about actual arrangements. Healso offers insights into the mindsets of individualsresponsible for making the plans.Commonalities and Connections between Genocideand Modern War* 7. 83 *Aronson, Ronald. 7he Dialectics of Disaster: A Prefaceto Hope. London: Verso, 1983. (Dist. by SchockenBooks. ) ISBN 0-86091-075-X.In this important book, Aronson makes a comparativeanalysis of the Nazi Holocaust, purges and otherforms of mass killing under Stalin in the Soviet Union,and the American war in Vietnam. After examiningcommonalities and differences among these threehistorical cases, he analyzes two ongoing cases involvingactual or potential violence, the Arab-Israeli conflictand the nuclear arms race. The overall goal of thiscreative book is to suggest answers to the question withwhich it begins: "Is there reason to hope today?" (p. ix)Three of the eight chapters directly address the questionof hope in an age of violence.7 84Askenasy, Hans. Are We All Nazis? Secaucus, NJ: LyleStuart, 1978. LC 77-13596. ISBN 0-8184-0248-2.Genocide and Modern War 143