WMD Arms Control
War is nothing new, but the perfection of weapons that destroy on a massive scale threatens human extinction. The socalled Doomsday Clock now stands at 90 seconds to midnight. Finding ways to limit the potential harm and somehow reduce, control and eliminate these weapons of mass destruction – nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and their delivery systems – is one of the “wicked problems” of modern life. This course explores how and why states develop, use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction and how and why they agree or don’t agree to control them. It addresses the particular challenges of negotiating, implementing, and sustaining arms control agreements designed to limit these powerful weapons. The course will cover current topics in arms control, proliferation and disarmament.
Why do states acquire nuclear weapons? Why do they give them up? Why do they decide to foreswear nuclear weapons? This course covers technical capabilities and political motivations, in theory and practice. It also covers policy options to prevent, stop, slow, and roll-back proliferation. Beginning with the first five states to acquire nuclear weapons, it covers case studies in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. It closes with the future prospects for nuclear proliferation and nonproliferation.