Nuclear Legitimacy: Why Insurgents Seek and Destroy Nuclear Technology

Scholars observe that we know little about what motivates non-state actors’ strategic interest in nuclear technology. This article argues that insurgents with ideological ambitions to form new states adopt acquisitive or destructive interests because nuclear power is a symbol of state legitimacy. State-seeking insurgents—separatists and revolutionaries—require domestic constituencies to recognize them as legitimate sovereigns. However, they differ in their need for international legitimation. Separatists’ demand for international acceptance deters them from pursuing nuclear weapons, which poses an international security threat. They will nonetheless attack the state’s nuclear facilities in areas they consider their national homeland to assert the legitimacy of their claims over these regions. Since revolutionaries do not expect international acceptance, they can pursue nuclear technology to enhance their legitimacy among key domestic audiences. Statistical analysis and qualitative examination support these hypotheses.