The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War. During the Cold War, in addition to the American and Soviet nuclear stockpiles, other countries developed nuclear weapons, though none engaged in warhead production on nearly the same scale as the two superpowers.
Read more about Nuclear Arms Race: World War II, Early Cold War, Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), Initial Nuclear Proliferation, Cuban Missile Crisis, Détente, Reagan and The Strategic Defense Initiative, The End of The Cold War, Post–Cold War, India and Pakistan
Famous quotes containing the words arms race, nuclear, arms and/or race:
“So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)
“The reduction of nuclear arsenals and the removal of the threat of worldwide nuclear destruction is a measure, in my judgment, of the power and strength of a great nation.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“... the reason I keep doing it is for the tremendous rush I get at the end of any great swim.... there is ... nothing greater than touching the shore after crossing some great body of water knowing that I’ve done it with my own two arms and legs.... I’m overwhelmed by the strength of my body and the power of my mind. For one moment, just one second, I feel immortal.”
—Diana Nyad (b. 1949)
“The civility of the world has reached that pitch that their more moral genius is becoming indispensable, and the quality of this race is to be honored for itself.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)