BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THE CONCEPTUAL DEBATE

Author: Bhumitra Chakma

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2001v22n3a3

ABSTRACT

Debates about why nuclear weapons proliferation occurs usually focus on four contending arguments: (I) security concerns; (2) prestige and status; (3) technological imperatives; and (4) domestic politics. According to the first perspective, a state's decision to acquire nuclear weapons is a dynamic function of its search for national security. When a state feels insecure in an anarchic environment, especially when its adversary has achieved nuclear weapons capability and possibly has developed nuclear weapons, a state's incentive to build a nuclear force becomes greater. The second perspective holds that a state builds nuclear weapons because it enhances international prestige and influence. Nuclear weapons in this context are conceived as a benchmark of national symbol equivalent to other national symbols like a national flag or a national anthem. Thirdly, a state's decision to build nuclear weapons could be an inevitable outcome of technological momentum created by atomic research and development. A fourth argument is that intra-bureaucratic politics as well as politicians' drive to score domestic political gains may lead a state down the nuclear path. These four contending conceptual perspectives about the proliferation of nuclear weapons are critically assessed in this article.