IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jocore/v39y1995i4p696-717.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Nuclear Taboo And War Initiation in Regional Conflicts

Author

Listed:
  • T. V. Paul

    (McGill University)

Abstract

This article addresses the role of nuclear taboo or the tradition of nonuse of nuclear weapons in limited wars involving a nuclear- and a nonnuclear-weapon state and the importance of this prohibitionary norm to deterrence theory. It explores nonnuclear states' strategic calculations before launching wars against nuclear-armed states. It discusses the historical, moral, normative, and rational bases of the taboo and explains why nuclear states have refrained from using their capability vis-à -vis nonnuclear challengers. Two cases of nonnuclear states initiating wars—the 1973 Egyptian offensive against Israel and the 1982 Argentine invasion of the British Falkland Islands—and the calculations of these states' decision makers on their adversaries' nuclear capability are addressed. The article concludes by discussing the implications of nuclear taboo for deterrence theory and regional conflicts, the conditions under which it could be broken, and the likely consequences of its infraction.

Suggested Citation

  • T. V. Paul, 1995. "Nuclear Taboo And War Initiation in Regional Conflicts," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(4), pages 696-717, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:39:y:1995:i:4:p:696-717
    DOI: 10.1177/0022002795039004005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022002795039004005
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0022002795039004005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Huth, Paul & Russett, Bruce, 1993. "General Deterrence between Enduring Rivals: Testing Three Competing Models," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(1), pages 61-73, March.
    2. Waltz, Kenneth N., 1990. "Nuclear Myths and Political Realities," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 84(3), pages 730-745, September.
    3. Price, Richard, 1995. "A genealogy of the chemical weapons taboo," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 73-103, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kyungwon Suh, 2023. "Nuclear balance and the initiation of nuclear crises: Does superiority matter?," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 60(2), pages 337-351, March.
    2. Weiqi Zhang, 2018. "Neither friend nor big brother: China’s role in North Korean foreign policy strategy," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 1-6, December.
    3. William R. Thompson, 1995. "Principal Rivalries," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 39(2), pages 195-223, June.
    4. Ben D. Mor & Zeev Maoz, 1999. "Learning and the Evolution of Enduring International Rivalries: a Strategic Approach," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 17(1), pages 1-48, February.
    5. Matthew Bolton & Elizabeth Minor, 2016. "The Discursive Turn Arrives in Turtle Bay: The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ Operationalization of Critical IR Theories," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 7(3), pages 385-395, September.
    6. Mauslein Jacob A. & Pickering Jeffrey, 2021. "Rivalry Type and Cyber Operations: “Hot” Rivalries, “Cold” Rivalries, and Cyber Incidents, 1990–2009," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 27(2), pages 169-195, May.
    7. Serdar Ş. Güner, 2004. "Aegean Territorial Waters Conflict: An Evolutionary Narrative," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 21(4), pages 297-312, September.
    8. Nakao, Keisuke, 2015. "Indirect Policing: Its Theory, Mechanism, and Application to Combatting Elusive Perpetrators," MPRA Paper 67218, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Thomas Tangerås, 2009. "Democracy, autocracy and the likelihood of international conflict," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 99-117, April.
    10. George W Williford & Douglas B Atkinson, 2020. "A Bayesian forecasting model of international conflict," The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, , vol. 17(3), pages 235-242, July.
    11. James D. Fearon, 1994. "Signaling Versus the Balance of Power and Interests," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(2), pages 236-269, June.
    12. Michael Colaresi, 2001. "Shocks to the System," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 45(5), pages 569-593, October.
    13. Joslyn Barnhart, 2021. "The Consequences of Defeat: The Quest for Status and Morale in the Aftermath of War," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 195-222, January.
    14. Daniel S. Geller, 2000. "Status Quo Orientation, Capabilities, and Patterns of War Initiation in Dyadic Rivalries," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 18(1), pages 73-96, February.
    15. Malul Miki & Shoham Amir, 2006. "The Role of Culture and Economic Variables in Wars and Coups," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, September.
    16. Aaron Belkin & Evan Schofer, 2003. "Toward a Structural Understanding of Coup Risk," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 47(5), pages 594-620, October.
    17. D. Scott Bennett, 1997. "Measuring Rivalry Termination, 1816-1992," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 41(2), pages 227-254, April.
    18. Sara McLaughlin Mitchell & Clayton L. Thyne, 2010. "Contentious Issues as Opportunities for Diversionary Behavior," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 27(5), pages 461-485, November.
    19. Cathy Xuanxuan Wu & Scott Wolford, 2018. "Leaders, States, and Reputations," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 62(10), pages 2087-2117, November.
    20. Jorgensen, Knud Erik, 1999. "The Social Construction of the Acquis Communautaire: A Cornerstone of the European Edifice," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 3, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jocore:v:39:y:1995:i:4:p:696-717. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.