On the Fallacies of Cold War Nostalgia: Capitalism, Colonialism, and South African Nuclear Geographies
On the Fallacies of Cold War Nostalgia: Capitalism, Colonialism, and South African Nuclear Geographies
This chapter deals with the superpower arms race and how it affected the technopolitics of the United States and the Soviet Union. Countries began to aim at becoming nuclear powers and gaining the knowledge to produce atomic bombs. During this time, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)—the principal instruments of the technopolitics involving the Cold War– were formed;.the use of atomic energy for producing electricity was propounded at this time by President Eisenhower in his “Atoms for Peace” speech; India also stepped in to produce atomic power plants. The author maintains that apartheid in South Africa was a critical factor in the negotiations for the IAEA seat. South Africa is rich in uranium ore that is used in harnessing atomic energy and in nuclear technology. The presence of this source material was considered to be vital in gaining the IAEA seat, which was a post-colonial settlement.
Keywords: nuclear power, atomic bombs, IIAEA, NPT, President Eisenhower, Atoms for Peace, atomic power plants, apartheid, South Africa, uranium
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