The geopolitical context for nuclear technologies has changed drastically since the end of the Cold War. After the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the United States became the sole superpower in the world, a position that was partially based on nuclear supremacy and control over thousands of nuclear warheads. Nuclear technologies continue to shape and reshape the geopolitical sphere twenty years later, with much of the new nuclear development in the Pacific Rim. While countries like France, Germany, and the United States debate what role nuclear energy should play in national energy mixes, states like India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia are fervently pursuing the creation or expansion of nuclear energy in their own countries. Nuklir Jawa (Nuclear Java), which delves into the Indonesian context for adopting nuclear power, is an excellent foray into the different ways that a nation-state and its citizens conceptualize how nuclear power will shape society, both positively and negatively.
