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Agence France Presse covers NPIHP Research Update #2, U.S. Secret Assistance to the French Nuclear Program, 1969-1975: From "Fourth Country" to Strategic Partner

Agence France Presse covers NPIHP Research Update #2, U.S. Secret Assistance to the French Nuclear Program, 1969-1975: From "Fourth Country" to Strategic Partner

An article carried by Agence France Presse highlights new findings from a recently published Research Update from the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project (NPIHP). The paper, U.S. Secret Assistance to the French Nuclear Program, 1969-1975: From "Fourth Country" to Strategic Partner by William Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archive, provides new details on U.S. aid to the French nuclear program and the debate in Washington surrounding the French decision to 'go nuclear.' These documents, spanning the Eisenhower to Ford administrations, shed new light on American attitudes towards nuclear weapons development and proliferation during the time of the Limited Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty negotiations.

William Burr is senior analyst at the National Security Archive and directs the Archive's Nuclear History Documentation Project. Formerly, Burr served as Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) coordinator for the Archive, was a visiting assistant professor at Washington College, and taught at the Catholic University of America, George Mason and American universities. Burr's publications include The Berlin Crisis, 1958-1962; U.S. Nuclear History: Nuclear Arms and Politics in the Missile Age, 1955-1968; The Kissinger Transcripts: The Top-Secret Talks with Beijing & Moscow; Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Programs Since 1940. His articles have appeared in Diplomatic History, the Cold War International History Project Bulletin, International Security and Cold War History. Burr received his Ph.D. in history from Northern Illinois University.

Visit www.wilsoncenter.org/NPIHP to view the documents and for more information about the collection.

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Nuclear Proliferation International History Project

The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project is a global network of individuals and institutions engaged in the study of international nuclear history through archival documents, oral history interviews, and other empirical sources. At the Wilson Center, it is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more

History and Public Policy Program

The History and Public Policy Program makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs.  Read more