Based on a symposium held at Airlie House, Virginia, in Nov. 1985, and sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and the Lawyers Alliance for Nuclear Arms Control (LANAC).

Introduction -- 1. Rethinking presidential first use : Presidential first use is unlawful / Jeremy J. Stone -- Which nuclear scenarios are at issue? / Jeremy J. Stone -- 2. Allocating nuclear war powers under the Constitution : The Constitution, nuclear weapons, and deterrence: an analysis of the FAS proposal / John Norton Moore -- Congressional limits on the Commander in Chief : the FAS proposal / Robert F. Turner -- The NATO Treaty : the commitment myth / Michael J. Glennon -- Congressional authority to regulate the use of nuclear weapons / Allan Ides -- Debate : allocating nuclear war powers under the Constitution -- 3. The form of congressional participation : War making under the Constitution and the first use of nuclear weapons / Stephen L. Carter -- First use of nuclear weapons: the constitutional role of a congressional leadership committee / William C. Banks -- The FAS proposal : valid check or unconstitutional veto? / Charles Tiefer -- 4. Problems of implementation of congressional control : Congressional authorization of nuclear first use : problems of implementation / Edwin M. Smith -- A congressional committee on national security : the perspective from the Hill / William G. Miller -- The justiciability of the FAS proposal / Arthur L. Berney -- The constitutionality of the FAS proposal: a critical summary / Peter Raven-Hansen.