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Past Event
Seminar

Regaining Lost Pride: The Impact of Status Claims on Nuclear Policy

Open to the Public

At 10:00 AM on May 20th, Sven-Eric Fikenscher will present an MTA Seminar, titled "Regaining Lost Pride: The Impact of Status Claims on Nuclear Policy." This presentation will enquire into the meaning and implications of status-seeking in the nuclear realm. The status-seeking notion is a particularly contentious one, since there is not even a consensus in the literature on whether status-seekers are prone to proliferate (as most first-generation analyses point out) or likely to exercise restraint (as the majority of more recent studies claim). Fikenscher will argue that a country’s nuclear policy is shaped by a government’s claimed level of importance and its perception of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The more the nuclear non-proliferation regime is perceived to undermine a government’s claims to greatness, the more likely that government is to pursue a nuclear weapons program. The theoretical model’s explanatory power is being tested in the context of India’s nuclear tests and overall test ban policy. Coffee and tea provided - open to the public!

Date: Time: - Location: Littauer Building - Belfer Center Library, Room 369

About

At 10:00 AM on May 20th, Sven-Eric Fikenscher will present an MTA Seminar, titled "Regaining Lost Pride: The Impact of Status Claims on Nuclear Policy." This presentation will enquire into the meaning and implications of status-seeking in the nuclear realm. The status-seeking notion is a particularly contentious one, since there is not even a consensus in the literature on whether status-seekers are prone to proliferate (as most first-generation analyses point out) or likely to exercise restraint (as the majority of more recent studies claim). Fikenscher will argue that a country’s nuclear policy is shaped by a government’s claimed level of importance and its perception of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. The more the nuclear non-proliferation regime is perceived to undermine a government’s claims to greatness, the more likely that government is to pursue a nuclear weapons program. The theoretical model’s explanatory power is being tested in the context of India’s nuclear tests and overall test ban policy. Coffee and tea provided - open to the public!

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