Should We Let the Bomb Spread

In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, security experts worried about the spread of nuclear weapons. Now, after decades of academic analysis, some argue that nuclear weapons in more hands may be better. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump suggested the United States might be better off if Japan and South Korea got the bomb. All this raises the question: Should we let the bomb spread?

The authors in this volume present a variety of views. Some favor letting America's allies get nuclear weapons; others say preventing proliferation is more dangerous than allowing it. Still others argue that nonproliferation is more essential to U.S. security than ever before.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Henry Sokolski

Chapter 1: Getting Past Nonproliferation by Harvey M. Sapolsky

Chapter 2: Why U.S. Policy Makers Who Love the Bomb Don't Think More is Better by W. Seth Carus

Chapter 3: "At All Costs": The Destructive Consequences of Antiproliferation Policy by John Mueller

Chapter 4: Should We Let It All Go?
by Victor Gilinsky

Chapter 5: The Next Nuclear War by Matthew Kroenig and Rebecca Davis Gibbons

Chapter 6: After Armageddon: The Potential Political Consequences of Third Use by Matthew Fuhrmann