{"product_id":"thermonuclear-monarchy-elaine-scarry-9780393080087","title":"Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom","description":"During his impeachment proceedings, Richard Nixon boasted, \"I can go into my office and pick up the telephone and in twenty-five minutes seventy million people will be dead.\" Nixon was accurately describing not only his own power but also the power of every American president in the nuclear age. \u003cp\u003ePresidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon each contemplated using nuclear weapons--Eisenhower twice, Kennedy three times, Johnson once, Nixon four times. Whether later presidents, from Ford to Obama, considered using them we will learn only once their national security papers are released.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this incisive, masterfully argued new book, award-winning social theorist Elaine Scarry demonstrates that the power of one leader to obliterate millions of people with a nuclear weapon--a possibility that remains very real even in the wake of the Cold War--deeply violates our constitutional rights, undermines the social contract, and is fundamentally at odds with the deliberative principles of democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAccording to the Constitution, the decision to go to war requires rigorous testing by both Congress and the citizenry; when a leader can single-handedly decide to deploy a nuclear weapon, we live in a state of \"thermonuclear monarchy,\" not democracy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe danger of nuclear weapons comes from potential accidents or acquisition by terrorists, hackers, or rogue countries. But the gravest danger comes from the mistaken idea that there exists some case compatible with legitimate governance. There can be no such case. \u003cem\u003eThermonuclear Monarchy\u003c\/em\u003e shows the deformation of governance that occurs when a country gains nuclear weapons.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn bold and lucid prose, \u003cem\u003eThermonuclear Monarchy\u003c\/em\u003e identifies the tools that will enable us to eliminate nuclear weapons and bring the decision for war back into the hands of Congress and the people. Only by doing so can we secure the safety of home populations, foreign populations, and the earth itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Elaine Scarry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0393080080\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393080087\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/24\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 592\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.41h x 6.41w x 1.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/25\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/15\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/23\/2014 pg. 17\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2014 pg. 345","brand":"Elaine Scarry","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44169651683583,"sku":"9780393080087","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0c18dd0d-a956-4a57-bfbc-51adfb877ac9.jpg?v=1689654149","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/thermonuclear-monarchy-elaine-scarry-9780393080087","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}