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Beginning with the Manhattan Project, this course will explore the ways nuclear weapons transformed the world we inhabit today, the effects of nuclear weapons on the conduct of international politics, and how people dealt with the issue of the shifting strategic balance, especially the loss of the American nuclear monopoly. The main learning goal of the course is to give students a historical, strategic, and theoretical background to allow them to understand and assess the key debates and policies regarding nuclear weapons that the United States will likely face in the coming decades. We will do so through an examination of the development of nuclear strategy from World War II to end of the 20th century, the characteristics of nuclear weapons, and fundamental issues stemming from the possession of nuclear weapons. We will conclude by exploring what effect nuclear weapons might have on international politics and US foreign policy in the coming decades and the relevance of the classics of nuclear strategic thinking to the recent nuclear doctrine. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>