Going Nuclear: Conflict Transformation in Asia

Author

Hariharan Murugesan, CUNY Bernard M Baruch CollegeFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-17-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

B.A. with honors

Honors Designation

yes

Program of Study

Political Science

Language

English

First Advisor

David Lindsey

Second Advisor

Till Weber

Third Advisor

Stephanie Golob

Abstract

On July 16th, 1945, codenamed “Trinity,” the world’s first nuclear bomb was detonated, releasing 18.6 kilotons of energy, morphing the sand in the Alamo Desert into green sheet glass.

International relations and its study were fundamentally changed with the creation of nuclear weapons. Mutually Assured Destruction, aptly shortened to MAD became a prevailing theory that tried to explain why countries would acquire nuclear weapons but would never use them; overtime, through various frameworks and treaties, the world tried to control the spread of nuclear weapons, and since 2006, only nine countries have succeeded in creating nuclear weapons, and yet interestingly enough, five of those countries are on the same continent, some even sharing borders.

Asia’s unique concentration of the five nuclear powers each sharing a tumultuous history has resulted in states lowering the possibility of conflict by choosing to engage in negotiation and controlling the escalation of conflicts as opposed to their behavior historically where the states were more ready to engage in conventional warfare.

Recommended Citation

Murugesan, Hariharan, "Going Nuclear: Conflict Transformation in Asia" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bb_etds/185