Peter Feaver

In recent years, debates over American grand strategy have often focused on the question of whether the United States should retrench geopolitically or seek to renew its international leadership. This collection of essays puts this pressing question in its proper historical and theoretical context. The authors examine past episodes in which American presidents were confronted with similar choices, and they probe theoretical and policy debates over retrenchment, renewal, and their consequences. The result is a volume that enriches our understanding of how American leaders have, can, and should respond to the challenges and opportunities that characterize international relations. The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to offer this collection as a contribution to the ongoing debate on American grand strategy.

A central problem in the history of nuclear weapons has been how to assure that they will only be used when directed and authorized) not in an accident, not by terrorists, not by allies, and not by battlefield commanders acting on their own. Permissive Action Links (PALs) were developed in the 1960s as a technological solution to this problem. This book first examines the factors of that led to the first decision to develop PALs.