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The Psychology of Nuclear Proliferation: Identity, Emotions and Foreign Policy
Abstract
Dozens of states have long been capable of acquiring nuclear weapons, yet only a few have actually done so. Jacques E. C. Hymans finds that the key to this surprising historical pattern lies not in externally imposed constraints, but rather in state leaders' conceptions of the national identity. Synthesizing a wide range of scholarship from the humanities and social sciences to experimental psychology and neuroscience, Hymans builds a rigorous model of decisionmaking that links identity to emotions and ultimately to nuclear policy choices. Exhaustively researched case studies of France, India, Argentina, and Australia - two that got the bomb and two that abstained - demonstrate the value of this model while debunking common myths. This book will be invaluable to policymakers and concerned citizens who are frustrated with the frequent misjudgments of states' nuclear ambitions, and to scholars who seek a better understanding of how leaders make big foreign policy decisions.
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“According to Hymans (2006), it is leaders with 'oppositional nationalist' profiles exactly Mojtaba Khamenei's well-known position who are most likely to seek nuclear weapons as a reaction to humiliation.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hymans, J. E. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hymans, Jacques E. C.
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2006-02-16
- OpenAlex
- W4241489760
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 26 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 8.79
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Nuclear Issues and Defense
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Relations and Foreign Policy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
- Keywords
- nuclear proliferation, nuclear weapons acquisition, national identity, nuclear policy, state leaders, France, India, Argentina, Australia, foreign policy decision-making
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