In Search of the Nuclear Taboo: Past, Present, and Future Proliferation Papers, No. 31, Winter 2010
One of the most puzzling - if positive - phenomena of the past half century is the non-use of nuclear weapons.
This essay seeks to probe the underpinnings of nuclear weapons restraint, the strength and durability of the so-called nuclear "taboo" - especially in light of the rise of non-states actors who covet nuclear weapons for purposes other than deterrence - and the most likely paths by which existing restraints might be breached, broken, or dissolved.