Art or article? The need for and nature of the British hydrogen bomb, 1954–58
This article examines the considerations which underpinned the British government's decision to produce hydrogen bombs. It is argued that the British hydrogen bomb programme was shaped by a number of factors: time constraints, the vagaries of the Anglo‐American relations, a desire to keep a check on the ambitions of both the US and USSR, and the need to maintain ‘great power’ status.
The United States, Britain and the Military Atom: Retrospect and Evaluation
The preceding account of the evolution of American and British policies towards the development of nuclear technology for military purposes in the United Kingdom offers grounds for arguing that it can best be understood in the context of a chronological movement from one type of relationship to another. Concepts of dependency, interdependency and self-sufficiency play a central role in describing this progression, but the civil/military divide, the nature of state decision-making systems and weapon development processes are less visibly linked to these chronological stages, and, in some cases, impinge upon what was occurring in a random fashion. As a consequence the types of dependency, interdependency and self-sufficiency found within the Anglo-American nuclear relationship will be examined first (together with a breakdown of the period into chronological stages), followed by the interrelationship between these stages and the other ideas.
Fortune and Responsibility in Calderón's La gran Cenobia
La gran Cenobia deals with the war between Queen Zenobia of Palmyra and the Emperor Aurelian. Calderón de la Barca draws most of his information from historical sources; the dramatist, however, changes history and adapts it to his own dramatic purpose. The theme of Fortune gives unity to the play. Aureliano is portrayed as a tyrant who, to prove his independence from Fortune, behaves tyrannically, causing his eventual downfall. Cenobia believes that Fortune controls her life, but does not acknowledge that her own actions contribute to her misfortune. The analysis concludes that Fortune, as depicted in this play, is not an omnipotent and blind force, but what one has forged with his or her own actions coupled with the actions of others and circumstance.