Still Taboo? Citizens’ Attitudes toward the Use of Nuclear Weapons

Abstract

Abstract How robust is the “nuclear taboo”—the belief that it is wrong to use nuclear weapons—and can it be strengthened? In a series of experimental surveys, we investigate two mechanisms theorized to support the nuclear nonuse norm. First, we examine the moral foundation of the norm by testing whether respondents who receive descriptions of the aftermath of a nuclear blast will be less supportive of nuclear weapons use. Second, we assess the mechanism of self-interest by raising a sense of nuclear risk, and test whether varying the likelihood of nuclear retaliation affects support for a strike. We find that vivid information about the consequences of a nuclear strike, either in moral or self-interested terms, reduces support for nuclear use. These findings indicate that each of the two mechanisms may support the nuclear nonuse tradition, but that the strength of each mechanism is affected by exposure to vivid information.