An Autopsy of the Mechanism of the Obtaining of Unconventional Weapons

Although most researchers in the area of nuclear proliferation consider anarchy in the international system and environmental threats as the major motivation on the part of the states to obtain weapons of mass destruction, we have no integral analytical framework to answer the question of "how do security threats affect state's decision to proliferate?" So the present article presents an analytical framework according to which three variables of the level of environmental threats are studied, where the relative strength of these three variables and their effects on the nuclear situation of the proliferating country are examined as well. In answering the question of "why do some countries, despite facing security threats, avoid acquiring nuclear capabilities?", the hypothesis raised is that the country that enjoys allied nuclear support, has no incentive to become nuclear, where the proposed analytical framework is tested using the historical models of nuclear development.