Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2014:

Total of 120 hours

Politics and International Studies at Undergraduate level

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject provides an advanced introduction and critical review of the development and spread of nuclear weapons, the challenges they present, and approaches to their control and to disarmament. This will include a critical examination of strategies for the use of nuclear weapons, measures to reduce their numbers, proliferation and risk of use (including an examination of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), and whether complete nuclear disarmament is possible and how it might be achieved.

A feature of this subject is that most of the lectures will be delivered by visiting experts, which in 2013 included Professor Gareth Evans, Professor Peter Hayes, Professor Michael Hamel-Green, Colonel Roger Cavazos and Assoc. Prof. Tilman Ruff.

On completion of this subject students should:

• gain thorough knowledge of major aspects of the history of nuclear weapons.
• Strengthen analytical capacity about the complexities of competing nuclear strategies such as deterrence.
• Increase understanding of the consequences of the existence and potential use of nuclear weapons.
• Review possibilities and requirements for and the potential process of nuclear disarmament.

A 2000 word essay (40%) due mid-semester, a 500 word paper based on class group activity (10%) due throughout the semester, and a 2500 word essay (50%) due during the examination period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

William Walker, A Perceptual Menace: Nuclear Weapons and International Order (London: Routledge, 2012)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Increasing capacity for contemporary historical analysis of international relations.
• Strengthening analytical capacity for national and international political and strategic review.
• Strengthening personal capacity to identify crucial factors influencing issues, analyse them logically and develop persuasive arguments about them.
• Further development of eloquence as a writer.