The New Nuclear Danger

On 21 September, ten days after the World Trade Center disaster, Lockheed Martin, the country’s leading manufacturer of conventional weaponry, nuclear delivery systems, and national missile defence, took a full page ad in the New York Times, echoing JFK’s famous call to ‘pay any price to assure the survival and the success of liberty.’ The ad offered an unusually public display of what is typically the invisible hand and muscle of the arms industry guiding American sentiment and government.

In this book, Dr. Helen Caldicott looks at the indebtedness of the Bush administration to the arms industry, and warns of the incredible dangers inherent in allowing weapons manufacturers to dictate foreign policy. Recounting the history of government collusion with industry, Caldicott shows how the merging of weapons firms in the 1980s created hugely powerful ‘death merchants,’ including Lockheed and others, ready to lobby politicians and manipulate public opinion on behalf of their corporate interests.

In the same way that a generation embraced Caldicott’s hugely influential Nuclear Madness and Missile Envy, The New Nuclear Danger stands to educate, alert, and mobilise millions of young people and concerned citizens. Our edition contains a specially written chapter for Australian and New Zealand readers.