PLCY388R

Students are introduced to major themes and debates in the contemporary study of nuclear security, from historical, theoretical, practical, and international perspectives. This course will provide students with the technical and conceptual tools needed to understand the role nuclear weapons play in international politics. It will include a historical overview of the nuclear age, including a discussion on the evolution of nuclear strategy and the introduction of a new nuclear lexicon, the global nuclear arms race, and the development of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. The course will cover a wide range of contemporary nuclear challenges, including nuclear security/terrorism, non-state actor nuclear challenges, international momentum behind nuclear disarmament (particularly, the evolution of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons), and the role of nuclear weapons in international politics, paying particular attention to future U.S.-Russia/U.S.-China relations, and India-Pakistan-China relations.