Gunboat Diplomacy and the Bomb: Nuclear Proliferation and the U.S. Navy (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Joanna Pineda, editor Arnett, Eric H., Gunboat Diplomacy and the Bomb: Nuclear Proliferation and the U.S. Navy ...................... 149 Bartholomew, James R., The Formation of Science in Japan: Building a Research Tradition ............................. 176 Esposito, John L., ed., The Iranian Revolution: Its Global Impact ....................................... 151 Fiebig-von Hase, Ragnhild, Lateinamerika als Konfliktherd der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Beziehungen 1890-1903 ........... 153 Friend, Julius W., Seven Years in France: François Mitterand and the Unintended Revolution ............. 159 Hunter, Shireen T., Iran and the World: Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade ....................... 161 Hazan, Baruch ?., Gorbachev and His Enemies: The Struggle for Perestroika ............................... 163 Julius, DeAnne, Global Companies and Public Policy: The Growing Challenge ofForeign Direct Investment ............ 165 LeMay, Michael C, ed., The Gatekeepers: Comparative Immigration Policy ........................... 166 Mabry, Donald J., ed., The Latin American Narcotics Trade and National Security ................................... 168 Nau, Henry R., The Myth ofAmerica's Decline: Leading the World Economy into the 1990s ................... 169 Nixon, Richard, In the Arena: A Memoir of Victory, Defeat, and Renewal .............................. 171 Smyser, W.R., Restive Partners: Washington and Bonn Diverge ............................. 173 Tatsuno, Sheridan M., Created in Japan: From Imitators to World Class Innovators .................... 176 147 148 SAISREVIEW Von Vorys, Karl, American National Interest: Virtue and Power in Foreign Policy ......................... 174 Yakushiji, Taizo, Techno—hegemony ............................. 176 Zaslavskaya, Tatyana, The Second Socialist Revolution .............. 178 BOOK REVIEWS 149 Gunboat Diplomacy and the Bomb: Nuclear Proliferation and the U.S. Navy. By Eric H. Arnett. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989. 175 pp. $39.95/Cloth. Reviewed by Jonathan T Dworken, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. It is often said that during a crisis the President's first question is: "Where are our carriers?" This almost instinctive reaction to call on U.S. naval forces in times of tension or conflict has led to their dispatch in over 200 instances since 1945. Sometimes the Navy is given a specific military mission, such as a strike or an evacuation operation. Often, however, the purpose of these actions is the vague notion of "political signalling", that is, a show of force to demonstrate U.S. interests and to communicate the commitment and capability to defend them. This naval role has many names: gunboat diplomacy, naval coercion, naval diplomacy, or "showing the flag." In Gunboat Diplomacy and the Bomb, Eric Arnett questions whether nuclear proliferation threatens the ability, or the will, of the United States to send naval forces abroad. In sum, are U.S. forces now too vulnerable for such risks? A brief review of the history of U.S. gunboat diplomacy provides perspective on Arnett's work. U.S. gunboat diplomacy dates back to the dispatch of U.S. frigates to the Mediterranean in 1801 to suppress Barbary pirates who frequently attacked American merchant ships. Responding to crises has been a main function of the Navy ever since. Following the Second World War, aircraft carriers played a pivotal role in the Pacific and thus became the most visible "stick" in America's gunboat diplomacy arsenal. These ships, as well as smaller one, have been used often since then, in such disparate situations as the Quemoy and Matsu disputes, the Cuban missile crisis, the bombing of Libya, and the Persian Gulf reflagging operation. Although Arnett's analysis is complex, his book can be roughly divided into two sections: the first develops a framework for evaluating the consequences of nuclear weapons proliferation for American gunboat diplomacy; the second applies this framework. Arnett focuses on aircraft carriers since their protection is accorded the highest priority due to their cost, military utility, and symbolic value. The conceptual framework examines the size of the nuclear weapons and the types of delivery vehicles necessary for threatening U.S. aircraft carriers. It is in these two technical areas that Arnett excels; his description of both areas are detailed, comprehensive, and understandable. The application of this framework, however, is somewhat problematic. The required size of a weapon capable of threatening such naval assets can be derived from past tests. A review of the 1946 Operation Crossroads blasts—the only nuclear test against naval forces—combined with measurements from other more recent tests, leads to a pessimistic assessment of carrier vulnerability. In fact, a small nuclear weapon, such as those proliferating in...