The Nuclear Age

The nuclear arms race escalated during the Cold War between East and West in the wake of World War II , and the possession of nuclear weapons came to be looked upon as a deterrent to nuclear war. Nuclear weapons were deployed every time relations between the superpowers became tense, but civilian groups always organized powerful movements to prevent their use. The confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union came to an end in 1990, but new fears have emerged about the proliferation and possible use of nuclear weapons in regional conflicts.