Governing the bomb : civilian control and democratic accountability of nuclear weapons / edited by Hans Born, Bates Gill, Heiner Hanggi.

Part of an effort by the the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of the Armed Forces (DCAF) and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) to bring comprehensive analysis to a wide audience and to encourage discussion on nuclear weapons and disarmament from a security sector governance perspective -- preface ([viii]

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Hans Born, Bates Gill and Heiner Hanggi. Introduction ; Studying domestic security sector governance ; The concept of security sector governance ; Security sector governance and nuclear weapons ; Key actors in domestic nuclear weapon governance ; Linking governance actors and the nuclear weapon cycle -- The United States / Peter D. Feaver and Kristen Thompson Sharp. Introduction ; Constitutional and political background ; Nuclear strategy ; Nuclear force structure ; Nuclear operations ; Conclusions -- Russia / Alexei Arbatov. Introduction ; Historical background of nuclear weapon control and policymaking ; Nuclear governance since 1991 ; Nuclear force structure and oversight ; Contemporary policy and future policy alternatives ; Conclusions -- The United Kingdom / John Simpson and Jenny Nielsen. Introduction ; The United Kingdom and nuclear weapons ; The structure and processes of British nuclear weapon governance ; International factors involved in the governance of British nuclear weapons ; Conclusions -- France / Bruno Tertrais. Introduction ; The birth of the "nuclear monarchy" ; The French nuclear "priesthood" ; The French national consensus ; Conclusions -- China / Bates Gill and Evan S. Medeiros. Introduction ; Key actors and their relations ; Nuclear force structure and doctrine ; Assessing civilian control ; Conclusions -- Israel / Avner Cohen. Introduction ; A brief history of Israeli civilian nuclear control ; The political culture of nuclear opacity ; Auditing, oversight and accountability ; Conclusions -- India / Waheguru Pal Singh Sidhu. Introduction ; Historical overview ; Key actors ; Divided control its limits ; Conclusions -- Pakistan / Zafar Iqbal Cheema. Introduction ; The South Asian security context ; Nuclear posture, policy and doctrine ; Nuclear infrastructure ; Civilian actors and nuclear decision making ; Conclusions -- Conclusion / Hans Born and Bates Gill. Introduction ; Domestic nuclear weapon governance in possessor states ; Comparing domestic nuclear weapon governance ; Findings and recommendations -- Appendix A. World nuclear forces, 2010.

'Go nuclear' or 'go zero'-as the international community stands at a nuclear crossroads, a number of questions demand urgent attention: How do established and emerging nuclear-armed states manage their nuclear affairs? Who commands and controls a country's nuclear forces? What effect does the balance between secrecy and openness have on larger questions of security and democracy? Governing the Bomb is grounded in the belief that the public's ability to hold nuclear-armed states accountable for the security of their weapons is contingent on proper knowledge of domestic nuclear governance. With a special emphasis on civilian control and democratic accountability, Governing the Bomb seeks to illuminate the structures and processes of nuclear weapons governance of eight nuclear-armed states: the USA, Russia, the UK, France and China as well as Israel, India and Pakistan. It examines the theoretical as well as practical functions and structures of those who possess the power to make nuclear decisions and those who have the practical means and physical opportunity to execute those decisions. While it assesses the whole spectrum of political oversight and control mechanisms in operation for each country-including the roles and requirements of the executive, the military and specialized civilian institutions-it also takes a closer look at parliamentary institutions and civil society at large. As nuclear terrorism, proliferation and disarmament vie for the top slot on the global security agenda, a comparative understanding of the various national nuclear discourses is no longer optional, but required.