Maintaining stability in the presence of nuclear proliferation in the Asia‐pacific region

Abstract

At present, there exists clandestine proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Asia‐Pacific region. The nuclear proliferation may alter or even upset the current regional balance of power and disrupt the stability of the region. It may also lead to new military conflicts. During a regional conflict, one nuclear threshold state may use nuclear weapons against its adversary. Under these circumstances, the international community should devote its best efforts to eliminating the nuclear proliferation in the region. Before that final goal is reached, states in the region should seek to maintain the strategic stability of the region in the presence of nuclear proliferation. In order to achieve that objective, the Asia‐Pacific region should set up a model including multilateral security mechanisms and bilateral confidence‐ and security‐building measures.