To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, this presentation will offer a security-based argument for India’s nuclear weapons program. Based on U.S., Indian, and French historical documents from the 1960s, Jayita Sarkar, Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow, argues that New Delhi opted for the “Plowshare loophole” as a cost-effective way to enter the nuclear club. Its regional insecurities vis-à-vis Pakistan and nuclear China, and its mistrust of the United States contributed to its proliferation drift, despite its active involvement in the negotiations for the NPT.