While writing this post, I thought about something I once wrote about Clement Attlee and the British nuclear weapons program. Embarrassingly, I forgot that the first post cites the same document which formed the basis for the second post.
Anyway, I cited this chapter excerpt in the previous post:
![](https://totalwonkerr.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-02-at-11.33.07-PM-1024x382.png)
The above excerpt served as one account of the 1947 meeting of the secret committee which authorized the development of nuclear weapons. I wasn’t really discussing why the Brits decided to build the weapons. Obviously, the excerpt cites prestige. But the chapter also cites a more traditional deterrence rationale:
![](https://totalwonkerr.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-02-at-11.21.23-PM-1024x458.png)
![](https://totalwonkerr.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Screen-Shot-2020-05-02-at-11.24.57-PM-1.png)