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"Cut holes and sink 'em": chemical weapons disposal and cold war history as a history of risk
"Cut holes and sink 'em": die Entsorgung chemischer Waffen und die Geschichte des Kalten Kriegs als eine Geschichte des Risikos
[journal article]
Abstract Using the incident of the scuttling of the USS Le Baron Russell Briggs, loaded with roughly 22,000 tons of outdated chemical weapons in 1970, this contribution extrapolates how, why, and when in the United States chemical weapons that had been produced as the ultimate answer to the risk of nuclear w... view more
Using the incident of the scuttling of the USS Le Baron Russell Briggs, loaded with roughly 22,000 tons of outdated chemical weapons in 1970, this contribution extrapolates how, why, and when in the United States chemical weapons that had been produced as the ultimate answer to the risk of nuclear war became reframed as a risk themselves. The analysis settles on how questions of knowing and not-knowing about potentialities of future events influenced these re-negotiation processes between the myriad actors involved such as the US military, politicians, environmentalists, Anti-Vietnam activists, and the American public. Beyond analyzing historic examples of risk assessment and management, this contribution also demonstrates how we can read the history of the Cold War as a history or risk. I argue that studying the controversy of operation CHASE 13, the sinking of the SS L. B. Briggs, from a risk perspective opens up new avenues into understanding the Cold War from a social and cultural perspective while integrating political and environmental history.... view less
Keywords
chemical weapon; waste disposal; risk; environmental impact; nuclear weapon; disarmament; historical development; war; United States of America; risk management; cold war; environment; risk assessment
Classification
General History
Ecology, Environment
Peace and Conflict Research, International Conflicts, Security Policy
Free Keywords
ocean dumping
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Page/Pages
p. 263-284
Journal
Historical Social Research, 41 (2016) 1
Issue topic
Risk as an analytical category: selected studies in the social history of the twentieth century
DOI
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.41.2016.1.263-284
ISSN
0172-6404
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed