My Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative is hosting Joe Cirincione for a discussion of his book, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons, Wednesday at 5:30 over at Busboys and Poets.
Yeah, that’s right, Busboys and Poets over on 14th St. How cool is that?
Busboys and Poets is named for the great poet Langston Hughes, who coincidentally wrote quite a bit about nuclear weapons in his column in the Chicago Defender, as well as his poems and short stories. I stumbled across a short story, Radioactive Red Caps, where Hughes uses the threat of nuclear war to illustrate something about the Jim Crow South:
“Your thinking borders on the subversive, I warned. “Do you want to fight the Civil War over again?”
“Not without an atom bomb,” said Simple. “If I was in Mississippi, I would be Jim Crowed out of bomb shelters, so I would need to get some kind of protection. By the time I got the N.A.A.C.P. to take my case to the Supreme Court, the war would be over, else I would be atomized.”
“Absurd!” I said. “Bomb shelters will be for everybody.”
“Not in Mississippi,” said Simple.
Anyway, I hope to see many of you there. If you’re coming, you might drop Liz Wu a note at communications [AT] newamerica.net.
And, if you can’t make it, check out the video of Joe’s talk at MIT.
Here is the invitation.
Bomb Scare
The History and Future of Nuclear WeaponsWednesday, July 11, 2007
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
(Light Refreshments Served)Busboys and Poets
Langston Room
2021 14th Street, NW
Washington, DCFeatured Speakers
Joseph Cirincione
Senior Fellow and Director for Nuclear Policy, Center for American Progress
Author, Bomb ScareJeffrey G. Lewis
Director, Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative
New America FoundationJoseph Cirincione is one of America’s best known weapons experts. His new book, Bomb Scare, begins with the first atomic discoveries of the 1930s and covers the history of their growth all the way to the current crisis with Iran. Cirincione unravels the science, strategy, and politics that have fueled the development of nuclear stockpiles and increased the chance of a nuclear attack. He also explains why many nations choose not to pursue nuclear weapons and pulls from this a corrective to the current failed policies: a balance of force and diplomacy, enforcement, and engagement that yields a steady decrease in these deadly arsenals.
Joseph Cirincione is Senior Fellow and Director for Nuclear Policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the new book, Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons (Columbia University Press, 2007). Cirincione also teaches at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served for eight years as director for nonproliferation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He worked for over nine years on the professional staff of the Armed Services Committee and the Government Operations Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Join the New America Foundation for an engaging discussion of nuclear weapons with Joseph Cirincione and Jeffrey Lewis.
The New York Review of Books says, “Cirincione writes as a seasoned Washington observer…his invaluable new book…ought to be read by everyone as a matter of life and death.”
Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, says that Bomb Scare is “Succinct and smart, informed by insight drawn from long experience, Bomb Scare is the best one-volume examination of the history and challenges of the nuclear arms race yet written.”
Robert Gallucci, Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, says Bomb Scare is “a compact, balanced, and wise treatment of an issue that is of critical importance to our security.”
To RSVP for this event, reply to this email: communications [AT] newamerica.net with name, affiliation, and contact information.
