Building the Bomb: Nuclear Proliferation in Authoritarian States

The assumption underlying much of the debate about nuclear proliferation is that future proliferation threats emanate primarily from states outside the democratic community. In this winning essay of the Trench Gascoigne competition 2014, Ben Challis argues that this assumption is mistaken. Instead, he points to a number of common characteristics among authoritarian states that hinder their ability to pursue nuclear weapons, providing more flexibility and time in which the international community can respond. In contrast, many democratic states have the capacity to build nuclear weapons quickly and face growing incentives to do so – suggesting a reassessment of counter-proliferation efforts is required.