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Nuclear Weapons - Coggle Diagram
Nuclear Weapons
Principle: Nuclear Proliferation
The Nature of the Proliferation Problem
Cold War fear of nuclear war
Prevent spread of nuclear weapons to states that did not have them
to limit the size and destructiveness of the arsenals of possessing states.
Types
Horizontal: the spread of nuclear weapons to states that currently do not possess them
Vertical: refers to the impact of additional weapons a nuclear state may gain.
How to produce and avoid production
The Problem Proliferation Poses
one has much less to fear from a weapons capability that one’s actual or potential adversaries do not possess than from a capability that they do possess.
Solving or Containing the Problem
The key concept in dealing with nuclear weapons in the Cold War context was deterrence, and that concept dominates historic and contemporary discussions of proliferation as well.
The Contemporary Problem of Proliferation
nuclear arsenals and policies have changed.
The other form of dissuasion is employment deterrence.
Application: North Korea and Iran
Background of the DPRK Problem
latest manifestation of a long conflict between US and DPRK
strategic location of the DPRK in East Asia
The Nature of the North Korean Threat
genesis of the ongoing crisis goes back to the Clinton administration.
The United States and the DPRK have been antagonists since the 1950s.
current, ongoing crisis was precipitated when the Bush administration cut off the flow of heating oil to North Korea and terminated the Framework Agreement in December 2002.
Given that the North Koreans are nuclear-capable, the question is what would keep them from using their weapons?
China does not support the DPRK nuclear program, but it does support what it views as the need for an independent North Korea, for which that program is the major prop.
The Iranian Contrast
Whether Iran has (or has had) proliferation ambitions is a matter of disagreement.
Iran signed an agreement in 2015 with the 5+1 powers in which it abjured any right to build nuclear weapons and agreed to international inspection of its nuclear facilities.
Iran is still an acquisition deterrence problem, in contrast to the DPRK.