The Nonproliferation Review · 1997 · 21 citations · 21 references
Social SciencesInternational LawPolitical ScienceInternational SecurityPublic International LawSecurity PolicyNational SecurityNonproliferation PolicyNuclear DoctrineNuclear GovernanceNuclear NonproliferationNuclear Weapons PolicyChemical Weapon AttacksNegative Security AssurancesNonproliferation NormsNuclear Nonproliferation TreatyNuclear RegulationNuclear Security PolicyNuclear Security RegulationNuclear Weapon State Commitments
Has the United States committed itself not to use nuclear weapons against countries that forswear them? This article summarizes the gradual change in how this question has been answered from the 1960s, when the United States would not even say that it had no “intention” of using nuclear weapons against such countries, to 1995, when President Clinton made a formal but qualified declaration that it would not do so. It then describes why this declaration (a so-called “negative security assurance”) is binding—“legally binding” to some and “politically binding” to others— and discusses whether it precludes the use of nuclear weapons to counter a biological or chemical weapon attack.
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