The catastrophic consequences of a nuclear exchange are well known, but this book argues that people rarely look back at what has actually created this potentially apocalyptic situation. The book discusses topics such as, why so many people believe in proliferating nuclear weapons, the role of the media, what can be done with an understanding of arms race psychology, how the mind of decision-makers work, and how the nuclear mentality differs across the international community. The Medical Campaign against Nuclear Weapons was established on the premise that "there can be no adequate medical response to a nuclear war". This book arises out of the campaign's conference held in London in April 1989, at which doctors and medical academics met to analyse the psychological causes and the effects of the continuing nuclear arms race. The focus has been shifted away from the hypothetical question of how doctors can respond in the event of nuclear war to the very immediate problem of making sense of, and coping with, the current nuclear threat.