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http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2158
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| Title: | Second-Strike Nuclear Forces and Neorealist Theory: Unit-Level Challenge or Balance-of-Power Politics as Usual? |
| Authors: | Lombard, Alex Department of Government and International Relations |
| Keywords: | Neorealism Balance-of-power theory Second-strike nuclear forces Minimum deterrence Economic power |
| Issue Date: | 19-Dec-2007 |
| Series/Report no.: | Govt Hons Thesis |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: What are the implications of second-strike nuclear forces for neorealism? The end of the Cold War yielded a unipolar structure of international politics defined by the military, economic, and political preponderance of the United States. According to balance-of-power theory, which lies at the heart of neorealism, unipolarity has a short life span as secondary states waste little time in rectifying the global imbalance of power. Thus far, America remains unbalanced. Are we to take this as a refutation of balance-of-power theory? My thesis argues that second-strike arsenals render void the need to balance superior American military power. But because state survival is contingent not only upon military invulnerability (for which nuclear weapons are a sure guarantee), but also upon economic invulnerability (for which there is no absolute remedy), nuclear-weapon states are impelled to balance superior economic power for security reasons. By recasting balance-of-power theory in light of these assumptions, one can make sense of the great-power politics of the post-Cold War era. |
| Description: | Hons Thesis |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2158 |
| ISSN: | N/A |
| Department/Unit/Centre: | Department of Government and International Relations |
| Appears in Collections: | Honours Theses Honours Theses - Government and International Relations |
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