Theorising nuclear weapons proliferation : understanding the nuclear policies of India, South Africa, North Korea, and Ukraine

Abstract

This thesis examines the causes of nuclear proliferation in India, South Africa, North Korea and Ukraine, and evaluates the extent to which neorealist theories can enhance our understanding of this phenomenon. The thesis makes four principal points.

First, it asserts that the four states under consideration have pursued nuclear capabilities for their political and/or economic leverage, rather than their military utility. Recent versions of neorealism can account for this through the disaggregation of the concept of power and an expanded definition of interests.

Second, it shows that nuclear behaviour has been strongly influenced by the internal characteristics of the state. Parsimonious versions of neorealism abstract from the unit level and, in doing so, neglect key domestic proliferation pressures. In contrast, the theory of structural realism (developed by Barry Buzan, Charles Jones and Richard Little in The Logic of Anarchy) derives explanations from both internal and external sources, using the concepts of relational and attributive power and the notion of interaction capacity. These theoretical constructs link structure and unit, creating an operational multilevel theory.

Third, the thesis argues for the consideration of non-material proliferation pressures and constraints. The nuclear weapons policies of India, South Africa, North Korea and Ukraine have been strongly influenced by the ideas, beliefs and values of individuals and organisations that shape state identity and interests. Structural realism's explanatory potential is limited by its failure to account for the role of sub-state actors or the power of ideas.

The thesis concludes that attempts to create a metatheory that combines material and ideational explanations of nuclear proliferation will be hampered by epistemological problems. It would be more productive to develop a theoretically sound ideational theory to complement, rather than replace, complex forms of neorealism.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record

ASCII CitationAtomBibTeXData Cite XMLDublin CoreDublin CoreEP3 XMLEndNoteHTML CitationHTML CitationHTML ListJSONMETSMODSMPEG-21 DIDLOpenURL ContextObjectOpenURL ContextObject in SpanRDF+N-TriplesRDF+N3RDF+XMLRIOXX2 XMLReferReference ManagerSimple Metadata