NATIONS WILL PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPONS IF STATES ALREADY HAVE IT. THEY NEED SECURITY TOO. Missiles and Morals A Utilitarian Look at Nuclear Deterrence. Douglas P. Lackey. Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer, 1982), pp. 189-231. Published by Blackwell Publishing. Stable URL http://www.jstor.org/stable/2264898 If only two nations have nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament by one may provoke nuclear disarmament in the other, producing the ideal result of general nuclear disarmament. But if many nations possess nuclear weapons, disarmament by one can hardly be expected to provoke disarmament by all of the others, and each armed nation, considering the fact that at least some other nations will continue to retain nuclear arms, may feel compelled to keep its weapons in order to deter the hardcore non- cooperators. Even the most ardent supporters of disarmament become disheartened when they consider the difficulties of arranging a simultaneous surrender of nuclear weapons by seven or more independent nation states.
