An Essay on Nuclear Proliferation in Asian Countries: Risks and Issues

This essay delves into the critical issue of nuclear proliferation, with a specific focus on the Asian region. It begins by defining nuclear proliferation and tracing its historical context, including the development of nuclear weapons during and after World War II and the subsequent Cold War. The essay emphasizes the concerns surrounding the expansion of nuclear weapons and the potential for these weapons to fall into the hands of terrorist organizations. The essay then examines the steps taken to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), while also addressing the limitations and challenges associated with these efforts. A significant portion of the essay is dedicated to analyzing the nuclear proliferation issues in the world, highlighting the tensions between nuclear-armed states and the role of countries like North Korea and Israel. The essay concludes by specifically addressing the issues of nuclear proliferation in Asia, focusing on the volatile relationship between India and Pakistan, and its implications on global security.

Running head: NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IN ASIAN COUNTRIES
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IN ASIAN COUNTRIES
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Introduction
The countries in the world are concerned about the issue of nuclear proliferation. The
Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in 1968 by around 190 countries to stop the
proliferation of nuclear weapons (Un.org, 2019). However, after the September 11, 2001 attacks
on the United States, debates regarding whether the treaty is viable or not came up. While some
argue that the treaty is obsolete, others view that it has been ineffective in stopping the
proliferation of nuclear weapons throughout the world (Belfercenter.org, 2019). As of now,
countries like India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea have not signed the NPT. Prior to
understanding the significance of this, it is important to understand the meaning of nuclear
proliferation. Nuclear proliferation refers to the expansion of nuclear weapons, the materials
associated with it and the widening of nuclear technology to countries that have not been
recognized as nuclear weapon states according to the Nonproliferation Treaty. The proliferation
of nuclear weapons is considered a severe issue because the nations fear that it might lead to a
nuclear warfare.
The aim of this essay is to argue that nuclear proliferation is a problem especially in the
circumstances when it could be accessed easily by terrorist organizations. The argument will
mainly focus on the nuclear proliferation in two countries namely India and Pakistan, the two
countries that are always at warheads. The essay will first provide an elaborate explanation of
nuclear proliferation. Then, the essay will shed light on the steps taken for controlling the
proliferation of nuclear weapons. It will then discuss the issues of nuclear proliferation in the
world followed by the issues faced in the Asian region. In doing so, the essay will include
evidences from different sources that are credible.

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Nuclear proliferation
As already mentioned in the previous section, nuclear proliferation refers to increase of
nuclear weapons, its technologies and the fissile material to nations that do not previously
possess these things. It also refers to the probable attainment of nuclear weapons by the terrorist
organizations. The nuclear proliferation history goes long back to the years during the Second
World War. The United States first intensified its attempts to acquire nuclear weapons in the fear
that the Nazi Germany might have access to nuclear weapons, which might be devastating for the
world. In July 1945, the world witnessed the first atomic bomb produced by the US under the
Manhattan Project. Three weeks after the introduction, the history of the world change when the
US plunged the two bombs on the two cities of Japan – Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In the coming
years, the US, Great Britain and the Soviet Union performed numerous nuclear weapon tests.
During the Cold War period especially, the creation and possession of nuclear bombs became
essential for the two superpowers of Russia and America. The race to become the most powerful
led to the development of even more dominant thermonuclear bomb known as the Hydrogen
bomb or the H-bomb. Due to such a competition, it was found that the two countries possessed
enough nuclear warheads to eliminate all life on the earth. Monteiro and Debs (2014) talk about
the logic behind nuclear proliferation states that to acquire nuclear weapons, the states must have
the “willingness and the opportunity to proliferate”. While willingness refers to the serious
security facing a country and no ally is willing to protect it, opportunity refers to the high relative
power possessed by the state. The two nations had both the willingness and the opportunity to
proliferate nuclear weapons. Reiter (2014) on the other hand, holds that the acquisition of nuclear
weapon is connected to the threatening environment where a state feels threatened about its
national security. It could be a reason behind the countries attempting to proliferate or acquire

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more and more nuclear weapons. However, one of the biggest threats of nuclear proliferation in
the contemporary era is that it might go into the hands of the terrorists who are in need of such
weapons to establish their fear. Brown and Kaplow (2014) however revealed in their study that
the pursuit of nuclear weapons by the state increases with the increase in assistance from the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The organization administering the Technical
Cooperation (TC) program is an important factor that instigates states to pursue nuclear weapons.
These factors have further led to the proliferation of the nuclear weapons.
Steps taken
With such a threat in view as to the extinction of the earth, the then US President Dwight
D. Eisenhower launched the Atoms for Peace Program in 1953 that provided nuclear technology
(nonmilitary) to the countries that had rejected it. The then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru called for a worldwide ban on nuclear testing and this became the first global scale call for
ban on nuclear weapons. Then in 1957, Eisenhower’s program led to the creation of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization under the United Nations that
promoted the peaceful and safe application of nuclear technology. Further, the increasing threat
of nuclear weapons across the globe led to the signing of the Treaty of Non-proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons also known as the Non-proliferation Treaty or NPT. The treaty was concluded
in the Soviet Union, the UK, France, China and the US in the year 1968. The treaty came into
effect in the year 1970. Under the treaty, the states countries possessing nuclear weapons had to
make available the nonmilitary nuclear weapons to other countries not having any nuclear
technology and the disarmament of their own nuclear weapons. In exchange of this, the states
with no nuclear weapons had to pledge that they would not obtain or transfer nuclear weapon or
technology from other countries and adhere to IAEA regulations. Müller (2017) however argues

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that the treaty has not caused any change in the proliferation of the nuclear weapons. Instead, as
the author states, the non-nuclear states have become frustrated with the lack of “progress in
nuclear disarmament and a great number of these states have encouraged a resolution to be
passed in the UN General Assembly that creates a negotiation platform where the prohibition of
nuclear weapons policies was concluded in 2017 (Müller 2017). The author expresses doubt over
the success of such steps because the nationalist emotions amongst the citizens further fed by the
leaders would not let the proliferation end.
In the views of Kroenig (2016), the world superpower, United States, must make
encouraging steps itself first before advising other nations on nonproliferation although it is not
necessary that nonproliferation by other states is solely based on this. The US has been one of the
major players in the proliferation of the nuclear weapons in the world being the first nation to use
it against another state. The author argues that the conventional wisdom that “the US government
must first make changes to its own nuclear arsenal” is flawed (Kroenig 2016). The author
researched various evidences especially the arsenal size of the US from 1945 to 2011 and found
that it has nothing to do with the “exploration, pursuit or acquisition of nuclear weapons by other
nations. Einhorn (2015) however, is of the view that the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons by
the states has to be motivated by inner will not by what other nations have done. The author cites
example of the failure of nuclear nonproliferation in the 1994 failure of the Budapest
Memorandum. The author states that Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its support for
Ukrainian separatists have proved to be a major “blow to the global nuclear nonproliferation
efforts” (Einhorn 2015). Hence, as it could be seen, the steps that have been taken to reduce
nuclear proliferation have hardly yielded any result.
Issue of nuclear proliferation in the world

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The issue of nuclear proliferation has been a global issue and the steps taken by the
global community have not been enough to address the issue. As described in the earlier
sections, the proliferation of nuclear weapons began with the United States testing it in Mexico
and then using it against Japan in the year 1945. Although no nuclear weapon has been used post
the Second World War, its rapid rise has been a major issue across the globe. According to the
UN, around 20,000 nuclear weapons are present in the world today (Un.org, 2019). Apart from
that, about 2000 nuclear weapons tests have been conducted until today in various countries
(Un.org, 2019). The changing threats in the world have also raised the issue of nuclear
proliferation to a much higher level. Previously, during the Second World War, the threats that
the world faced included the tensions and conflicts between nations. However, the situation has
changed and the threat that the world now faces the most is the threat of extremism. The
extremists have wreaked havoc in the world since their inception in the 20th century. Several
attacks have taken place in the world that has led to the death of millions of people. Apart from
this threat, another issue of nuclear proliferation that causes concern for the world is the tensions
between the nuclear-armed states such as India and Pakistan (that will be discussed in the next
section), and Israel and Palestine. Apart from that, the possession of nuclear weapons by North
Korea, one of the most dangerous nations under the dictatorship of Kim Jong-Un has also caused
enough tensions in the world regarding the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. The North
Korea has been justifying its proliferation of nuclear weapons by blaming it on the US for posing
nuclear threats to the country.
Anderson (2017) observes that the US has been vocal about the denuclearization of North
Korea from the start. The author finds that one of the primary reasons of North Korea showing
curiosity in nuclear weapons proliferation is the “threatening foreign policies of USA and South

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Korea” (Anderson 2017). However, others see the proliferation as being driven by the internal
factors within North Korea especially the personality of its leader. The author finds that both the
arguments are valid although he also develops an alternative argument stating that the position of
the US on the Korean peninsula and its global hegemony is one of the prime reasons for this
(Anderson 2017). Narang (2015) on the other hand, provides views that it is not only North
Korea but Iran as well that is posing a threat to global security. The author states that one of the
reasons for North Korea and Iran being vulnerable to nuclear proliferation is the uranium
enrichment that both the countries possess. World leaders have been devising policies and
strategies to stop the countries from proliferating nuclear weapons. Although Iran is yet to
achieve nuclear weapons capability, North Korea is presently causing problems for the world.
On January 6, 2016, North Korea claimed that it had successfully tested an H-bomb in “self-
defense against the US” (McCurry and Safi, 2019). The North Korean media claimed that the
miniaturized hydrogen bomb test was successfully tested within its land. Although no evidence
could be found of such claims, it was enough for the world to feel threatened by the presence of
nuclear weapons and production capability of fissile materials in the country. Israel is another
country that has nuclear proliferation issue and it is also a non-member in the NPT. One of the
major concerns for the world is that the continuous conflict between the two nuclear states of
Israel and Palestine could not be overlooked (Cfr.org, 2019). This unresolved conflict has caused
the prohibition of nuclear weapons in the region to go ineffective.
Issue of nuclear proliferation is Asia
Nuclear proliferation is Asia is equally concerning as it is in the world. In particular, the
nuclear proliferation of India and Pakistan has been a major issue in the world. The two South
Asian countries have been involved in several wars over the decades and in all the cases, there

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were growing risks of nuclear warfare. One of the other concerns for the world regarding nuclear
proliferation is the presence of internationally declared terror organizations in the state of
Pakistan. This makes the situation even more vulnerable and added to that is the unstable nature
of the governments in the country. The recent conflicts between the two nations have newly
raised concerns about the issue. In February 2019, India launched air strikes against in the
terrorist camps located in Pakistan’s Balakot after it lsot its soldiers in a deadly terror attack in
Pulwama district of Kashmir. In reply to this, Pakistan retaliated with attempts of air strikes on
Indian soil (Reuters.com, 2019). This conflict raised further concerns for the world about the
issue because both the nations are nuclear-armed and further proliferation might be devastating.
As per the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India has 130 to 140
nuclear warheads compared to Pakistan’s 140 to 150 nuclear warheads (Reuters.com, 2019).
The history of nuclear proliferation in India began in the year 1998 when it carried out
nuclear tests in Pokharan and declared itself a nuclear state. However, India’s nuclear program
could be traced back to 1944 when Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the late scientist, founded India’s
first nuclear research center. The first nuclear test carried out by India was in the year 1974
named “Smiling Buddha” (Nuclearweaponarchive.org, 2019). After that, the country carried on
the second nuclear test in 1998. Viewing threats on world peace, the US and Japan imposed
sanctions on India although it was later lifted (Armscontrol.org, 2019). Nonetheless, India
introduced the policy of “no-first-use” in 1999 stating that the nuclear weapons were only for
retaliation and nothing else. India remained firm on its policy even after the escalating tensions
with its neighbor Pakistan during the 2001 and 2002 period (Nuclearweaponarchive.org, 2019).
In 2003, India established the Strategic Nuclear Command (SNC) that became the custodian of
all the nuclear related technology, assets and missiles in the country. Fuhrmann and Horowitz

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(2014) state that the background experiences of the leaders strongly determine the nuclear
proliferation in any country. The authors cite example of India, which first carried out the tests
on nuclear weapons in 1964 after losing to China in the Indo-China war of 1962. The bitter
experience of the leader in the war caused the country to proliferate nuclear weapons. Pakistan
on the other hand, began its proliferation of nuclear proliferation in the year 1972 and it received
impetus after India tested its first nuclear weapon in 1974. Following India’s successive nuclear
tests in 1998, Pakistan also successfully tested five nuclear devices names Chagai-I and Chagai-
II (Khan 2012). Dittmer (2015) however states that the recurrent tensions between the two South
Asian nations make it extremely volatile for the world regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
Unlike India, Pakistan does not have any “no-first-use” policy. It means that Pakistan could use
nuclear weapons even if the enemy nation does not use it first. Another threat of nuclear
proliferation in Pakistan, as Jenkins (2015) observes, is the presence of terror outfits in the
country who could any time have access to the nuclear technology that could be devastating for
the world.
Perkovich and Dalton (2015) state that the terrorism emanating from Pakistan and the
subsequent response of India brings forth the dangers of nuclear proliferation. Under threat from
a possible military response from India, Pakistan leaders might feel the need to use nuclear
weapons to repulse, state the authors. Burns and Coyle (2015) further talk about the possibility of
nuclear terrorism that developed in the post-Cold War era and that continues to threaten world
peace. They state, “a regional nuclear conflict – brought on by miscalculation; accident; or
religious, political or territorial differences in the Middle East, North or South Asia – would, of
course, not only endanger those regions but also the rest of the world”. Hence, nuclear
proliferation for any reason is bad and a big problem facing the world.

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Conclusion
Therefore, it could be reiterated that nuclear proliferation is a problem because it causes
danger to not only the regions that engage in war but also for the world. The current essay
discussed the problems of nuclear proliferation with special focus on Asia. The essay first
discussed the meaning of nuclear proliferation and the reason it is such a danger for the world.
Then, the essay talked about the steps that have been taken to stop nuclear proliferation. The
analysis found that various policies and laws were introduced in the world for the
nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. The formation of International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and the Nonproliferation treaty signing were some of the most significant steps taken to
halt nuclear proliferation. The essay then discussed the issue of nuclear proliferation the world
and the way some countries have caused nuclear proliferation to raise. The test and subsequent
use of nuclear weapons by the US in 1945 started the nuclear proliferation trend in the world. It
then continued towards the Cold War and continues in several parts of the world. The threat
posed by North Korea, Israel and Iran has also been discussed. The essay put emphasis on the
issue of nuclear proliferation in the South Asian region especially in the two conflicting nations
India and Pakistan. In India, the nuclear proliferation began after the Indo-China war of 1962.
India first tested its nuclear weapon by 1974 code-named “Smiling Buddha” and the second test
in 1998. Pakistan followed suit and tested five nuclear weapons in the same year. The main
problem of nuclear proliferation is bigger in this region because there is always tension between
these two countries that escalated recently after the terror attack on Indian soldiers in the
Pulwama region of Kashmir after which, the tensions escalated. Thus, it is clear to understand
that the nuclear proliferation is a big problem.

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