United States policy and nuclear proliferation in Asia

Abstract

Opposition to the spread of nuclear weapons has been a major objective of U.S. policy since the end of World War II. During this time Washington has devised a range of policies designed both to prevent other states from acquiring the wherewithal to develop nuclear weapons and to deter states with those capacities from converting them into military nuclear capabilities. The United States has sought to rationalise its opposition to nuclear spread in a number of ways but principally on the grounds that the more nuclear powers there are, the more there are likely to be, and that the more there are, the greater the risks of nuclear war. Underlying much of Washington’s concern has been the fear that nuclear spread might reduce America’s capacity to regulate crisis situations and to prevent them from developing into general war.