ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the extent to which the causes identified help account for the Chinese decision to develop, deploy, and maintain nuclear weapons. Neorealist theory highlights the constraining consequences of two aspects of international structure that shape the behavior of states— ordering principle and polarity. The condition of anarchy encourages states interested in ensuring their survival to prepare to counter perceived threats to their security. Variations in polarity modify, but do not fundamentally alter the security imperatives of anarchy. Scholars have paid particular attention to differences in the dynamics of alliance politics in multipolar as opposed to bipolar systems. Bipolarity, then, reinforces the consequences of competition under anarchy that encourage states to provide for their own security. Neorealist theory relies on a simplifying assumption that states, at a minimum, will attempt to ensure their survival. Neorealists, of course, understand that the states’ definitions of national interest are in reality more varied and often more expansive.
