Power Versus Prudence : Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons - Softcover

T.V. Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0773520872 ISBN 13: 9780773520875

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2000

Synopsis

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.

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Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0773520872
• ISBN 13: 9780773520875
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232