Pakistan and the New Nuclear Taboo: Regional Deterrence and the International Arms Control Regime (Studies in the History of Religious and Political Pluralism)

This book examines Pakistan s nuclear behaviour from the 1950s onwards against the background of the emerging global non-proliferation system. The author probes the broader questions of the extent to which Pakistan s conduct was factored into the global non-proliferation regime and why that regime failed to constrain Pakistan s choice to go nuclear.
The book goes on to argue that in order to fully understand Pakistan s nuclear policy, the Indian case must also be considered. Therefore, this book provides a comprehensive scholarly account of the history of both India s and Pakistan s technological developments leading to their decision to develop nuclear weapons and confront the NPT constraints. The question of nuclear proliferation by Pakistan s most prominent scientist, Dr A. Q. Khan, its nuclear behaviour after the disclosure of this proliferation case, and the recent development of counter-proliferation measures at a global level are all analysed in this volume. The security of Pakistan s nuclear weapons and the question of the state s reliability within the ranks of the global community remain hotly debated issues. Pakistan and the New Nuclear Taboo offers the compelling argument that a new nuclear taboo against proliferation has emerged to prevent nuclear risks regionally and globally: since 2004, it is argued, Pakistan has played a key role in helping to establish this new nuclear taboo against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The three models approach adopted here provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date theoretical perspective on Pakistan s nuclear behaviour and helps illuminate nuclear policy dynamics and the role of international institutions in regulating the conduct of states in other regions as well.