ABSTRACT

This chapter examines some of the economic, social, security, and ecological reasons that are not in the interests of countries acquiring weapons of mass destruction and delivery systems. One option for discouraging nuclear proliferation is to enhance international dialog and educate nations on eie disadvantages of proliferation. Economic costs for nuclear weapons possession should not be estimated solely on the capital required for developing, testing, and building a small number of nuclear weapons. Developing nuclear weapons, if pursued indigenously, will cost a country billions of dollars because it entails producing special nuclear materials, nuclear device design, and high-explosives testing and manufacturing. Upon acquiring nuclear weapons, states are more prone to be targeted by existing nuclear weapons states. Sometimes less developed countries argue that they should acquire nuclear or chemical weapons because the superpowers possess them and have derived tremendous benefit politically and militarily.