The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia

Abstract

Proliferation optimism and pessimism have set the parameters for debate about the strategic impact of the spread of nuclear weapons to an increasing number of actors. Nuclear proliferation strengthens international peace and stability, optimists argue, because the prospect of nuclear devastation would make state leaders ever more cautious in conducting external relations. Pessimists counter that the wider the ownership of nuclear arms, the greater the danger of nuclear calamity, which could result not only from deliberate release of nuclear forces but also from accidental or unauthorized detonation of nuclear devices as well as nuclear terrorism. Representing the most thorough scholarly discussion of the political and military effects of nuclear spread in twenty-first century Asia, The Long Shadow is remarkable for its endorsement of the role of nuclear armament in enhancing regional security. As its editor and main author, Muthiah Alagappa, sums up, ‘[O]n net, [nuclear weapons] have reinforced national security and regional stability in Asia’. Moreover, this naturally leads to his support of proliferation optimism with regard to states that have acquired nuclear capability outside the nonproliferation regime or may soon do so. Asia as defined in the book, it may be noted, stretches eastward to include the area normally known as the Middle East.