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Nautilus Reports on Proliferation in U.S. Defense Policy

"Implications of Indian and/or Japanese Nuclear Proliferation for U.S. Defense Policy Planning"
By R. M. Lawrence, W. R. Van Cleave, and S. E. Young, Strategic Studies Center, January 1974

This study project was prepared for the Advanced Research Projects Agency and released to the Nautilus Institute Under the US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Read the report.

Iran, North Korea, and Libya are all suspected or have acknowledged their pursuit of a nuclear deterrent. In this context, this report written by the Strategic Studies Center only a few months before India would test its first nuclear weapon, is particularly significant.

The report considers proliferation in Japan and India in the context of the impact that these states going nuclear would have on the balance of power in Asia.

"The study indicates that the interest in nonproliferation [in India and Japan] is subordinate to most of the other interests..." [page 3]. The report concludes that US policy on Indian and/or Japanese nuclear proliferation should be based on whether, "proliferation occur[s] in the Asian-Pacific Theater in a way that will alter the balance of power leading to U.S. inferiority or enhance the balance and thus contribute to political stability among the super- and near superpowers." [page 11]

This report available at here.


Nautilus Invites Your Responses

The Nautilus Institute FOIA Project invites your responses to this essay. Please send responses to: bscott@nautilus.org. Responses will be considered for redistribution to the network only if they include the author's name, affiliation, and explicit consent.