00000cam a22000004i 4500 UP-99796217612712520 Buklod 20180322165209.0 m q i ta 160302s2016 enk rb |001 0|eng d 9781138930803 (iLib)UPD-00360916049 DLC DAC rda eng DMLUC JZ 5675 F57 2016 Fitzpatrick, Mark (Senior fellow for non-proliferation) author. Asia's latent nuclear powers Japan, South Korea and Taiwan Mark Fitzpatrick. London International Institute for Strategic Studies [2016] 175 pages 24 cm. text rdacontent unmediated rdamedia volume rdacarrier Adelphi 455 Includes bibliographical references and index. Under what conditions would the democracies in Northeast Asia seek to join the nuclear weapons club? Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are threshold nuclear powers by virtue of their robust civilian nuclear-energy programmes. All three once pursued nuclear weapons and all face nuclear-armed adversaries. Fitzpatrick's latest book analyses these past nuclear pursuits and current proliferation drivers. It considers how long it would take each to build a nuclear weapon if such a fateful decision were made but does not predict such a scenario. Unlike when each previously went down a nuclear path, democracy and a free press now prevail as barriers to building bombs in the basement. Reliance on US defence commitments is a better security alternative--as long as such guarantees remain credible. But extended deterrence is not a barrier to proliferation of sensitive nuclear technologies. Nuclear hedging by its Northeast Asian partners will challenge Washington's nuclear diplomacy. In English. Nuclear nonproliferation Japan. Nuclear nonproliferation Korea (South) Nuclear nonproliferation Taiwan. Adelphi (Series) (International Institute for Strategic Studies) 455. FO UPD DAC JZ 5675 F57 2016 Book