Search on Ifri.org

About Ifri

Frequent searches

Suggestions

Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned

Studies
|
Date de publication
|
Référence taxonomie collections
Proliferation Papers
|
Références
Proliferation Papers, No. 38, Summer 2011
Image de couverture de la publication
Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned
Accroche

Intelligence agencies play a fundamental role in the prevention of nuclear proliferation, as they help to understand other countries' intentions and assess their technical capabilities and the nature of their nuclear activities.

Corps analyses

The challenges in this area remain, however, formidable. Past experiences and the discoveries of Iraq's WMD programs, of North Korean nuclear weapon program, and of Iranian activities, have put into question the ability of intelligence to monitor small, clandestine proliferation activities from either states or non-state entities. This Proliferation Paper analyzes the complex challenges intelligence faces and the various roles it plays in supporting national and international nuclear non-proliferation efforts, and reviews its track record.

 

Decoration

Available in:

ISBN / ISSN

978-2-86592-924-5

Share

Download the full analysis

This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.

Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned

Decoration
Author(s)
Image principale
 A soldier watching a sunset on an armored infantry fighting vehicle
Security Studies Center
Accroche centre

Heir to a tradition dating back to the founding of Ifri, the Security Studies Center provides public and private decision-makers as well as the general public with the keys to understanding power relations and contemporary modes of conflict as well as those to come. Through its positioning at the juncture of politics and operations, the credibility of its civil-military team and the wide distribution of its publications in French and English, the Center for Security Studies constitutes in the French landscape of think tanks a unique center of research and influence on the national and international defense debate.

Image principale

Strategic Shift in NATO’s Support for Ukraine. A Study of NSATU and PURL Initiatives

Date de publication
04 June 2026
Accroche

This study analyzes a significant transformation in NATO’s practical support to Ukraine, marked by the establishment of the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) mission and the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) funding mechanism.

Iryna KRASNOSHTAN
Image principale

French Forward Deterrence: What Is in It for the Baltic States?

Date de publication
25 May 2026
Accroche

For what may be its most significant stress test since the end of the Cold War, European deterrence is under strain. Russia’s war against Ukraine has demonstrated Moscow’s willingness to use force and its ability to combine conventional operations with nuclear signalling, coercive rhetoric, and hybrid actions. At the same time, the gradual deterioration of transatlantic relations has revived concerns about the reliability of extended deterrence.

Image principale

Europe at the Crossroads of DefTech: Rethinking the European Defense Innovation Ecosystem

Date de publication
16 February 2026
Accroche

“The way I look at Iron Dome is as the ultimate manifestation of the future of the United States’ role in future conflicts, which is not to be the world police, but to be the world gun store,” said Palmer Luckey in November 2023. Luckey is the founder of Anduril, one of the most prominent DefTech companies. The ambition is clear: to participate in global rearmament by capitalizing on the quality of American innovations and to dominate the arms market—at least in the West—through technological mastery.

Alexandre PAPAEMMANUEL Laure de ROUCY-ROCHEGONDE
Image principale

Taking the Pulse: Is France’s New Nuclear Doctrine Ambitious Enough?

Date de publication
12 March 2026
Accroche

French President Emmanuel Macron has unveiled his country’s new nuclear doctrine. Are the changes he has made enough to reassure France’s European partners in the current geopolitical context?

How can this study be cited?

Image de couverture de la publication
Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned
Keith A. HANSEN, « Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned », Studies, Proliferation Papers, Ifri, 20 September 2011.
Copy
Image de couverture de la publication
Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned

Intelligence and Nuclear Proliferation: Lessons Learned