第二次世界大戰中,美英兩國聯手研制原子彈,由此確定了雙方對核武器的壟斷。雖然美國政府主要出于減少美軍傷亡和加速戰爭進程的雙重需要對日本實施了核打擊,但此舉對美蘇關系產生了深刻影響。圍繞著核武器壟斷與反壟斷,美蘇之間展開了激烈較量。美國將原子彈視為實現政治和外交目標的重要工具,對蘇政策愈發強硬;而蘇聯則采取針鋒相對的態度,加緊核武器研制。盡管出于政治和宣傳需要,雙方都表示贊成對原子能實施國際控制,但實際上雙方立場迥異,且互不讓步,最終導致原子能國際控制計劃以失敗告終。核武器雖然并非冷戰的產物,但在促使戰時美英蘇同盟瓦解、冷戰發生的過程中起到重要作用。

In World War II,the joint development of the atom bomb by the United States and Britain meant that the two shared a monopoly of nuclear weapons.Although the main reason the US launched a nuclear attack on Japan was to reduce its military casualties and shorten the war,this act had a profound impact on US-Soviet relations.The US and the Soviet Union fiercely contested the preservation or abandonment of the nuclear monopoly.The United States,which regarded the atom bomb as an important tool for achieving its political and foreign policy goals,toughened its Soviet policy,while the Soviet Union adopted a tit-for-tat approach and sped up its nuclear program.Despite their political and propaganda needs,both sides expressed support for international control of atomic energy,but in fact the differences in their positions and their refusal to compromise meant that this move ended in failure.Although nuclear weapons were not a Cold War product,they played an important role in the collapse of the alliance among the US,Britain and the Soviet Union and in the development of the Cold War.