Suprise Down Under: The Secret History of Australia's Nuclear Ambitions

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Australia is best known for its efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, not its attempts to acquire them, but recently declassified documents from Australia and the UK reveal that government officials repeatedly sought to acquire a nuclear weapons capability.This talk reviews the secret history of Australia?s nuclear ambitions, attempts to explain why Australia first sought and them abandoned the nuclear option, and explores the lessons of the Australian case for contemporary theories of international politics and for the real world problems faced by policy makers.Some of the topics to be discussed include:? The unexpected effects of international treaties and regimes? The interaction between domestic and international politics? The relationship between science and military bureaucracies? Alternative approaches to the problem of nuclear proliferationAdvance copies of background text available.For more information, please contact Kristina Cherniahivsky at 5-4708, kristina_cherniahivsky@harvard.eduOr download the PDF file from the web at http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/npr/walsh51.htmlA link within the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey?s website