> It's just that we will drop bombs on anyone who tries.
I don't recall us bombing Pakistan, India, Israel, China, or North Korea.
> Nuclear nonproliferation relies on active enforcement.
The comedy hour at HN has arrived. See above ^^^
> It's just that we will drop bombs on anyone who tries.
I don't recall us bombing Pakistan, India, Israel, China, or North Korea.
> Nuclear nonproliferation relies on active enforcement.
The comedy hour at HN has arrived. See above ^^^
>I don't recall us bombing...China
As far as i know, USA was seriously considering doing this in 1964. However the soviets said that would mean war, so they didn't.
North Korea is so firmly in China and Russia's sphere of influence that bombing them would be hard, especially given how much conventional weapons they have pointed at south korea. That said, would you really want to be north korea? economic warfare has done a number on them. in many ways they are the poster child for nuke != winning.
Israel probably snuck through by doing it early enough and secretively enough that it was fait accompli. They probably tested their nukes before the nuclear non proliferation treaty was even signed.
so really you have india and pakistan. The fact there are so few exceptions kind of proves the system works.
> Nuclear nonproliferation relies on active enforcement.
It relies on getting nukes being an irrational move for most countries. Yes part of that is your enemies will start preventive wars to stop that. A very major part of it is the economic consequences of developing nukes is usually not worth it. Part of it is the smart strategy is to just do most of the work and stop before getting nukes - if shit hits the fan you can get nukes quickly, but going up to the line without crossing it has none of the negative consequences.
I suspect the US allows/ignores some nuclear programs if they think it's in their geopolitical interest. India is a counter-balance to China and Russia. Pakistan is a counter-balance to India. Keeping everyone armed to the teeth and on their toes is better for the US than forming blocs.
U.S. opposed India nuclear program for many years.
"Twenty-six years after the nuclear tests at Pokhran in May 1998 led to an embargo on several Indian atomic energy companies, the US is set to lift the sanctions, opening the route for closer cooperation in the civil-nuclear sector."
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/26-years-after-pokhr...
North Korea isn't doing so well, but it's doing better than Iraq, Libya, or Venezuela at least as far as the leadership is concerned. Their conventional forces being within artillery range of Seoul probably helps but having multiple credible nukes really has helped them to avoid being a target of regime change.
The US tried regime change in 1950. The issue was that china didn't want an american puppet state on its borders so intervened. That is just as true now as it was 75 years ago.
Iraq, Libya and Venezuela don't have powerful friends willing to go to bat for them.
> I don't recall us bombing Pakistan, India, Israel, China, or North Korea.
pakistan and india did it in secret.
incidentally, its alleged that one of the countries on that list killed a very prominent american in order to prevent us from stopping them from creating a nuclear program.
India had quite advanced nuclear program even in 1940s, with Indian nuclear scientists working with scientists from UK and Canada.
"Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in August 1945, R. S. Krishnan, a nuclear physicist who had studied under Norman Feather and John Cockcroft, and who recognised the massive energy-generating potential of uranium, observed, "If the tremendous energy released from atomic explosions is made available to drive machinery, etc., it will bring about an industrial revolution of a far-reaching character." He further noted, however, the difficulties in harnessing nuclear power for peaceful usage, "...a great deal more research work is needed before atomic power can be put to industrial use."
"In March 1946, the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research (BSIR), under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), set up an Atomic Research Committee under Bhabha's leadership to explore India's atomic energy resources and to suggest ways to develop and harness them, along with establishing contacts with similar organisations in other nations."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_India
US didn't much opose the nuclear programs in Pakistan and Israel (probably even supported nuclear program in Israel).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_affair
US bombed North Korea a lot.
You argued against your own point beautifully.