Transforming Discourse, Driving Change: Gendered Nuclear Identities and the Soviet Union's Shift to Disarmament in the 1980s

In the late 1980s, breaking with decades of aggressive nuclear armament, the Soviet Union changed the course of its nuclear policy to promoting arms control and reducing nuclear stockpiles. This significant policy shift requires examination to support ongoing efforts in disarmament. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine highlights the importance of strengthening disarmament initiatives and international dialogues on arms control. Rational deterrence explanations, predicated on the idea that states must possess and retain nuclear weapons to deter adversaries, become self-fulfilling prophecies and entangle states in perpetual security dilemmas. This article argues that transformative shifts in nuclear politics are contingent upon discursive reconfigurations of states' gendered nuclear identities. Employing a feminist poststructuralist lens, the analysis reveals how Mikhail Gorbachev's 'peace offensive' redefined Soviet nuclear identity by reshaping masculinities and constructing a cooperative, ethical and disarmament-oriented Self. This article highlights the importance of discursive shifts in advancing arms control and reimagining nuclear politics beyond entrenched militaristic and masculine norms.