Will More States Acquire Nuclear Weapons?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
On 14 December, APLN Executive Director Shatabhisha Shetty was featured in Foreign Affairs where she shared her opinion on the likelihood that the number of states with nuclear weapons will increase in the next decade.
“Although there are a number of states with nuclear latency, including Japan, South Korea, and Iran, the NPT [Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty] regime remains robust enough in political, practical, and normative terms to prevent breakout. The international opprobrium and consequences of developing nuclear weapons—for instance, sanctions (or further sanctions), political isolation, and regional security dilemmas—are likely to remain an effective deterrent to dissuade these countries from treading this path. Moreover, managing the financial and economic fallout of COVID-19, at least in Asia, will also be a constraining factor in the potential development of nuclear weapons over the next decade. The United States will remain an important military ally for nuclear-latent Asian countries to help mitigate their security concerns.”
Read the original article here.
