Canada's Early Nuclear Policy

Book excerpt: The advent of nuclear weapons introduced a complex new factor into world politics, drawing a line through history and ensuring that international relations would never be the same. By both accident and design, Canada was a central player in the new nuclear era, as countries grappled with the implications of this revolutionary new development. Canada's decision, unique among pioneer atomic powers, not to acquire a nuclear arsenal has been used to buttress widely differing political agendas, while the factors that shaped the policy-making process have been largely ignored.