Preventive Force and Nuclear Weapons: Playing with Matches?

While significant research has been done on the causes of nuclear weapons proliferation and on the theory and practice of preventive and preemptive war, little has been done to link these islands of literature. A number of policy makers have waged in on the concept of counterproliferation focusing specifically on the decision making leading to it and its relative value as a tool to fight the spread of nuclear weapons; however, there has been little effort to systematically explore the impact of preventive force used in the name of counterproliferation on the overall stability of the nonproliferation regime. Specifically, can preventive military action successfully fight nuclear weapons proliferation? Will states shrink away from nuclear weapons proliferation in the face of preventive attacks or will states decide that in order to keep foreign powers from meddling in their security affairs accelerating or establishing a nuclear weapons program in necessary? This paper seeks to address these questions through in depth case study analysis of the most popularly studied instances of preventive force being used against nuclear weapons programs as well as a general look at the universe of these cases. Moreover, because the literature surrounding counterproliferation is generally devoid of systematic and theoretical analysis, this study will employ the traditional lenses of international relations theory as a means to understand and hypothesize about the impacts of such conflicts on the overall spread of nuclear weapons. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]