Year
1977
Abstract
It is widely accepted - and with good reason - that the proliferation of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear nations is not desirable. Even aspiring nuclear powers - notably India - have expressed grave doubts regarding the wisdom of taking the final step from plutonium production to weapons manufacture in quantity . The question arises however: is nuclear proliferation bad simply because of the larger destructive force of nuclear over conventional weapons, or is there an even more sinister question of world social order at stake? The purpose of this paper is to examine the threat of nuclear proliferation in its historical perspective as the evolution of political and military developments over several centuries and to offer some thoughts regarding the political and social ramifications of nuclear proliferation.