Conundrum of Nuclear Weapons: A Historical Analysis of Preventive Force

This paper makes an important contribution to understanding how preventive force (overt/covert military strikes or war) can prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction (WMD). A historical analysis will help create a strategic profile useful in determining a nations primary interests and probable future choices. The focus of the paper looks at preventive force and the ideological and structural constants of U.S foreign policy. Three detailed cases are presented. The first case considers President Trumans rejection of preventive force against the Soviet Union. The second case considers President Kennedys hawkish plans of preventive force against a nascent Communist Chinese nuclear program. The third case explores the Clinton administrations coercive threat of preventive force against North Korea during the 1994 Korean peninsula crisis.

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