Why do states pursue nuclear weapons despite their enormous costs and risks — and do these weapons ultimately make the world safer?

❗️DATE UPDATE: Please be aware that we’ve changed the date from 28.10.26 to 25.11.26.

🌋 Why do states pursue nuclear weapons despite their enormous costs and risks — and do these weapons ultimately make the world safer or more dangerous?

This conversation will explore the motivations behind nuclear proliferation and the enduring debate over deterrence: whether nuclear weapons prevent major wars, or instead increase the risk of escalation, miscalculation and instability.

🗓️ 28.10.2026

🕕 18:00 doors open; 18:30 start

📍St Giles House Hotel

🎟️ General Admission Ticket £10

(or more if you’d like to be a supporter)

🎟️ Concession Ticket £5

Are Nuclear Weapons a Force for Peace?

Why do states pursue nuclear weapons, and do these weapons ultimately promote peace? Since the nuclear revolution of 1945, the landscape of international security has been fundamentally transformed. During the Cold War, nuclear weapons stood at the center of global politics, shaping strategic doctrines, alliances, and rivalries. Yet their significance has not diminished in the post-Cold War era. Instead, nuclear politics has evolved in ways that continue to challenge established assumptions about deterrence and stability.

In recent decades, new states have joined the nuclear club, while others have seriously contemplated acquiring nuclear capabilities. At the same time, the number of nuclear latent states, those with the technological capacity to develop nuclear weapons, has grown substantially. These trends raise a critical question: why do states pursue nuclear weapons despite the immense financial costs, technical challenges, and intense international scrutiny they face?

This session examines the strategic, political, and normative drivers behind nuclear proliferation. In doing so, it revisits a long-standing debate in security studies, namely whether nuclear weapons serve as a force for peace. While some argue that nuclear deterrence reduces the likelihood of major war, others highlight the risks of escalation, miscalculation, and regional instability.

By exploring both the motivations for nuclear acquisition and the consequences of nuclear possession, this talk asks whether a world with more nuclear-armed states is inherently more stable or more dangerous.

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Dr Soul Park is a Lecturer in International Relations at UEA. Prior to his current position, he was Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, National University of Singapore. His research and teaching focus on security and foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific, with particular attention to second-order regional security dynamics, examining how secondary states navigate, adapt to, and shape evolving regional security architectures. His broader interests include alliance politics, defense policy, nuclear politics, and the governance of regional order in the Indo-Pacific.

He holds a B.A. from Seoul National University, an M.Sc. from University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

UEA Profile (https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/soul-park/) | Academia (https://eastanglia.academia.edu/SoulPark) | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/soulpark21/) | Twitter/X (https://x.com/soulpark21?lang=en)

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