Analyzes the interaction between nuclear freeze activists and proponents of a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Argues that SDI strengthens Reagan's rhetorical position concerning nuclear weapons policy because it reduces the argumentative ground of the freeze movement by envisioning a defensive weapons system that would nullify nuclear weapons.…

Analyzes the decision to drop the atomic bomb from a rhetorical point of view, arguing that the bombs were launched because of an American commitment to a particular rhetoric that focused on the propaganda slogan "unconditional surrender." (PD)

Examines some of the rhetorical choices of General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev which dramatize Soviet calls for nuclear weapons de-escalation. Speculates that Gorbachev's peace efforts are sincere, because they are motivated by twin crises of a failing economy and a threatened world community. (MS)

Uses Kenneth Burke's theory of perfection to explore the vocabularies of nuclear weapons in United States public discourse and how "the Bomb" as a God term has gained imbalanced ascendancy in centers of power. (MS)

The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 forced the Canadian House of Commons to consider whether Canadian forces in NORAD and NATO were effective without nuclear warheads on special weapons systems. This paper provides an overview of the debates and their milieu, identifies the issues involved, and analyzes the effects of the argumentation. The…

Nukespeak--euphemisms or jargon that serve to hide the horrific nature of nuclear weapons systems and nuclear war--uses the strategies of domestication and bureaucratization to represent itself to the public. Domestication employs everyday language to introduce nuclear concepts into public discourse in a non-threatening manner, as when President…