1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910815172103321

Autore

Paul T. V

Titolo

Power versus prudence : why nations forgo nuclear weapons / / T.V. Paul

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Montreal, : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2000

ISBN

1-282-85883-1

9786612858833

0-7735-6864-6

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

viii, 227 p. ; ; 24 cm

Collana

Foreign policy, security, and strategic studies

Disciplina

327.1/747

Soggetti

Nuclear weapons - Government policy

Nuclear nonproliferation

Security, International

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Published for the Centre for Security and Foreign Policy Studies and The Teleglobe+Raoul-Dandurand Chair of Strategic and Diplomatic Studies.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references: p. [195]-217 and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Theory -- Introduction: Theory and Nuclear Weapons Choices -- Explaining Nuclear Forbearance -- Case Studies -- Aligned Major Economic Powers: Germany and Japan -- Aligned Middle Powers: Canada and Australia -- Neutral States: Sweden and Switzerland -- Non-Allied States: Argentina and Brazil -- Nuclear Choices of South Africa, Ukraine, and South Korea -- New Nuclear States: India, Pakistan, and Israel -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

In Power versus Prudence Paul develops a prudential-realist model, arguing that a nation's national nuclear choices depend on specific regional security contexts: the non-great power states most likely to forgo nuclear weapons are those in zones of low and moderate conflict, while nations likely to acquire such capability tend to be in zones of high conflict and engaged in protracted conflicts and enduring rivalries. He demonstrates that the choice to forbear acquiring nuclear weapons is also a function of the extent of security interdependence that states experience with other states, both allies and adversaries. He applies the comparative case study method to pairs of states with similar



characteristics - Germany/Japan, Canada/Australia, Sweden/Switzerland, Argentina/Brazil - in addition to analysing the nuclear choices of South Africa, Ukraine, South Korea, India, Pakistan, and Israel. Paul concludes by questioning some of the prevailing supply side approaches to non-proliferation, offering an explication of the security variable by linking nuclear proliferation with protracted conflicts and enduring rivalries. Power versus Prudence will be of interest to students of international relations, policy-makers, policy analysts, and the informed public concerned with the questions of nuclear weapons, non-proliferation, and disarmament.