1. Introduction
2. The dawn of the nuclear age
2.1 The discovery of uranium fission and its background
2.2 Atom bomb programs in the world
3. The arms race and the military-industrial complex
3.1 The Franck Report to the Secretary of War
3.2 Niels Bohr’s Open Letter to the United Nations
3.3 President Eisenhower’s Farwell Address
4. Activities of the military-industrial-academic complex
4.1 A short history of anti-ballistic missiles
4.2 Arms control agreements and military R&D
5. Conclusions
Notes