U.S. Nonproliferation Policy and a Strategy For Proliferation Management

An historical overview of U.S. nonproliferation policy from the Truman to the Clinton administrations is provided as a basis for analyzing the threat proliferation has presented to U.S. interests. Proliferation concerns are shown to have been but one of the number of U.S. security interests during the Cold War, and to have been subordinated to other, more pressing, global considerations. The proliferation of strategic technologies, including nuclear and ballistic missile technologies, threatens the United States\u27 ability to project power globally and thus to protect its overseas interests. Nonproliferation policies and the nonproliferation regime are analyzed in their historical and contemporary contexts and areas of weakness are identified. The foregoing provides the threat analysis that forms the basis upon which a strategy for managing proliferation is formulated and presented