if nuclear weapons are used again, health services will be unable to respond in any significant way One could be forgiven for not noticing, but there has been groundbreaking activity going on that is headed in the direction of a ban on the world’s most destructive weapons. This year, 2015, could see the start of negotiations for a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons, which were first used 70 ye...

Vol. V, No.2 No consensus has yet developed regarding the meaning or impact of new high-technology tactical weapons systems, either with respect to the military balance in Europe or in the larger context of East-West relations and detente. Some writers believe that a radical shift in the tactical military balance may be underway, possibly approaching a point of departure from traditional relian...

What happens to the foreign policies of states when they acquire nuclear weapons? Despite its critical importance, this question has been understudied. This paper offers a new typology of the effects of nuclear weapons on foreign policy, and hypothesizes the circumstances in which these effects might be observed. I distinguish between five conceptually distinct foreign policy behaviors—-aggress...

"cannot be disinvented." Yet the present policy of the declared nuclear weapon states of trying to impose nuclear apartheid by force provokes the spread of nuclear weapons, rather than supporting the stated goal of non-proliferation. The only way out of this lethal spiral is to accept global nuclear disarmament by consistent use of the law -as the world is already doing with chemical and biolog...

Nuclear weapons are popularly regarded as the horror of the twentieth century. Yet, many argue that they promoted peace through the cold war. To examine the effect of nuclear weapons on international politics, this essay explores how nuclear arsenals could have stopped WWII or made it all the more horrifying. This essay first explains the relevant understanding of the use of nuclear force. It t...

Although nuclear non-proliferation is an almost universal human desire, in practice, the negotiated treaties appear unable to prevent the steady growth of the number of states that have nuclear weapons. We propose a computational model for understanding the complex issues behind nuclear arms negotiations, the motivations of various states to enter a nuclear weapons program and the ways to diffu...

What if nuclear aspirants get the bomb? How likely are they to use it? Which nuclear strategies might emerging nuclear powers adopt? These may seem like academic questions, but they are loaded with strategic significance. Different nuclear strategies have historically been associated with distinct types of risk. Some nuclear strategies are more likely to deter U.S. freedom of action; some more ...

Dr. Jonathan B. Tucker directs the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to this appointment, he worked on chemical and biological weapons issues at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and on the staff of the Presidential ...

the objective of this paper is to provide an overview of various approaches on iran’s nuclear program and the frameworks within which the approaches can be located. it first addresses different views held in relevant think tanks and academic circles in the u.s. regarding iran’s nuclear program, including motivation-based and consequence-based arguments in their different variants. then iranians...

although there is in neither conventional nor customary international law any comprehensive or universal prohibition of the use of nuclear weapons, it was absolutely possible for the court to conclude, in the light of the documentary evidence and factual data placed before it, that recourse to these weapons would be illegal, in all circumstances. the article tries to examine critically the worl...